01/21/13 01/21/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is "democracy now!" >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i've barack the same obama do solemnly swear. >> i do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states.

>> four years after making history by becoming the first african-american president, barack obama kicks off the second term on martin luther king day. today and inauguration day special. we will air highlights from last ides' peace ball including naacp president benjamin jealous. >> the challenge for our country is never to see the day when a person of color would be president, nor the challenge for our country was to ensure that it would be safe for it to i hae -- happen again and again. >> we'll also hear from the legendary poet son the sanchez, ralph nader, sweet honey and the rock, and angela davis. >> let me say this time around we cannot subordinate our aspirations and our hopes to presidential agenda.

>> we will look at big money behind the inauguration. four years ago president obama refused to accept corporate donations, but this year exxonmobil, at&t, christoph are among the biggest backers of today's festivities. -- microsoft are among the biggest backers of today's festivities. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the teenage gunman is in custody after allegedly killing five members of his family in new mexico on saturday night. police say the 15-year-old killed his parents and three siblings, each suffering multiple gunshot wounds. the suspect was armed with several weapons, including an assault rifle. it was the deadliest mass shooting in the u.s. since the newtown massacre over a month ago. the shooting came on the same day opponents of gun control held rallies across the country to oppose the white house effort to reform the nation's gun laws.

at demonstrations in pennsylvania and ohio, gun owners pilloried calls for stricter gun control. >> no law put on law abiding citizens has ever deterred crime. they're going to take my gun so i can get shot. >> my thoughts is, tell the leftwing liberal idiots in washington to leave our guns alone. we're not hurting anything. it is the criminals. deal with the criminals, not the law abiding citizens. >> the pro-gun rallies also coincided with a series of nationwide gun shows where at least five people were wounded when their firearms accidentally went off. in north carolina, three people were injured when a shotgun accidentally fired as its owner removed it from its case. another gun owner accidentally shot himself in indianapolis, while an ohio a gun show attendee was injured by stray bullet. president obama is set to publicly take the oath of office today at his second term

inauguration in washington. obama gathered with his family sunday in the blue room of the white house to privately recite the 35-word oath read to him by supreme court chief justice john roberts. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states, so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> 3 activist groups have received permission to protest president obama along the route of the nrk parade. the anti-war group answers says it expects -- we will have more

on the inauguration after headlines. alice four people have been killed in u.s. drone strike inside yemen. yemeni government says the attack of four militants but the claim has not been independently verified. the attack comes one day after those of anger of the drone attacks blocked a main road linking the targeted town with the capital. the obama administration meanwhile reportedly has decided to exclude cia drone strikes in pakistan from new legal oversight for targeted killings overseas. the washington post reports counter-terrorism adviser and cia-nominee john brennan has signed off on a plan to exempt the drone attacks in pakistan from a list of operations that would be covered under newly enacted rules. areas covered in the so-called play book include the process for adding names to kill lists, the principles for killing u.s. citizens abroad, and the command chain for authorizing cia or

u.s. military strikes outside war zones. the exemption of drone strikes in pakistan would allow the cia to continue carrying them without -- tearing them without a legal framework for a to two years. the hostage standoff in a jury of his ended in the deaths of dozens of people, including up to 48 of the captured workers. algerian forces say they recovered at least 25 bodies after storming the militant held gas complex saturday, bringing the confirmed death toll to least 80. witnesses say the hostages were brutally executed. the toll could have been worse as hundreds of hostages had earlier managed to escape. a will on islamist fighter has claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the al qaeda. the militants who took the complex claimed there were doing so to seek an end to the french military intervention in neighboring mali. the french army continues to

advance on no. rally in its effort to wrest control from islamist rebels. earlier today, french forces into the key town on the ground after a week of air strikes. the rebels apparently fled the town after vowing stiff resistance. at the united nations, a spokesperson for the u.n. refugee agency said the fighting in mali continues to this place up to 700,000 people. >> we believe there could be in the nearuture up to 300,000 people additionally displaced inside mali and over 400,000 additionally displaced in the neighboring countries. many also fear the strict application of sharia law. their report having witnessed executions, amputations, and say that large amounts of money are being offered to civilians to fight against the malian army and its supporters. disturbingly, also, we're

hearing accounts there are children among the rebel fighters. >> fighting erupted in afghanistan's capital earlier today after suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of the afghan traffic police. at least eight people were killed, including three officers and five militants. it was the second attack on an afghan government building in kabul in five days. a new u.n. report says the torture prisoners in afghanistan is not only continuing, that may be on the rise. investigators say they've uncovered ongoing abuses in afghan prisons including the beating of detainees with cables and hanging them by their wrists. more than half of prisoners interviewed said they had been tortured, higher than the previous rate of 24% in 2011. the report also cites an unnamed afghan official confirming prisoners are being held as a pretension sides to avoid international scrutiny. last week, the u.s. military

said it had halted the transfer detainees to some afghan prisons over ongoing torture. the israeli military has forced -- forcibly removed another palestinian protest encampment in the path of the expanding settlement. palestinian residents of the village had set up three tents and a mobil building on friday to stop israel from seizing parts of their land. the demonstrators named their site bab al-karama. the activists said they tore up the order in the faces of its release soldiers. the in camera was raided and dismantle by its release soldiers earlier today. another palestinian encampment was removed earlier this month. rebels in colombia have announced an end to a two-month unilateral ceasefire declared

peace talks with the government. revolutionary armed forces, or fork, said they would have extended the truce had the government and willing to sign an accord. a columbia rejected the pact saying farc did its ceasefire pledges multiple times. military attacks against the far can continue even after rebels and the colombian government began meeting for peace talks in cuba late last year. back in the u.s., the interior department has again delayed a regulation that would require the disclosure of chemicals used in the oil drilling process of hydraulic fracturing known as fracking. it is the second time the rule's implementation has been delayed since it was first proposed in may. in a bid to draw attention to the environmental impact of fracking, the musician and activist yoko ono has joined with her son, musician sean lennon, for a tour of impacted areas in northeastern states.

the actor and activist susan sarandon joined yoko ono and sean lennon for a part of their trip. >> fracking is such a major, major decision because it is forever. you cannot undo the damage. all of that stuff is still emitting even after they leave. >> fracking is dirty. there is no way to make it clean. the industry knows it is dirty and that is why they're spending so much money on the pr campaign to spread the information and tell people it is going to save their economy, when actually it devastates local communities. >> hundreds of people gathered in new york city on saturday for a public memorial service honoring and schwartz, the internet freedom activist who took his own life earlier this month. he was weeks before trial date for downloading millions of articles provided by the nonprofit research service

jstor at mit. swartz was facing 35 years in prison, a penalty supporters called excessively harsh. at the memorial, aaron swartz's partner, taren stinebrickner- kauffman, called for prosecutors to be held accountable. >> on last friday he face the prospect of yet another three months of uncertainty of ups and downs of being forced by the government to spend every fiber of his being on this damnable, since this trial. with no guarantee could exonerate himself at the end of it. he was so scared and so frustrated and so desperate and more than anything, just so weary. i think he just could not take it another day. aarib would have loved to have been here because of the last week, phoenix's are already rising from his ashes. the best possible legacy for him is for all of us to go out

from here today and do everything we can to make the world a better place. a thousand flowers are blooming in his name already. some of the most important and will be fighting, david siegel, and many others, are organizing around u.s. attorney's office that must be held accountable for its actions. >> taren stinebrickner-kauffman speaking at the public memorial for aaron swartz. "democracy now!" livestreamed the memorial. you can go to democracynow.org to watch it in full as well as our interview with taren. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from washington, d.c., today, where president barack obama is set to publicly take the oath of office for a second term after becoming the first african-american u.s. president four years ago. as many as 800,000 people are

expected to attend this year's celebration -- smaller than the nearly 2 million people who crammed into washington to witness his 2009 inauguration, but still the largest second inauguration in history. president obama first gathered with his family sunday in the blue room of the white house to privately recite the 35-word oath that was read to him by supreme court chief justice john roberts. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear -- 9 >> i barack obama and do solemnly swear that i will execute the office of the president of the united states and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states, so help me god. >> congratulations, mr.

president. >> thank you so much. >> president obama being sworn in sunday by supreme court justice john roberts during a ceremony at the white house. he will repeat those words when he raises his right hand at today's public inauguration, while laying his left hand on two bibles -- one owned by abraham lincoln and the other owned by dr. martin luther king, jr. afterward, obama will deliver a speech laying out his plans for the next four years. the nro ceremony will include music from singers james taylor, beyoncé, and others which will carry live during our extended five-our inauguration special. after our regular broadcast ends, we will continue to bring you coverage until 1:00 p.m. eastern standard time, including the swearing in ceremony. some stations will run the whole five our special, for others you can go to democracynow.org. this year, the inauguration also comes on the federal holiday in

honor of dr. martin luther king, jr., who delivered his "i have a dream" speech 50 years ago, not far from here at the lincoln memorial. later in our special coverage, we will air excerpts of some of dr. king's less often played speeches, including "beyond vietnam." why he opposed the war in vietnam. but first, we turn to some of the voices of hope and resistance from sunday night's piece ball. not affiliated with any political party, the celebration at the mead center for american theater paid tribute to the continuing struggle for peace and justice here in the united states and throughout the world. we begin with naacp president benjamin jealous. >> this is the place to be tonight. the challenge for our country was never to see the day when a person of color would be president, know the challenge

for our country was to ensure that it would be safe for it to happen again and again. we knew it could be condoleezza rice. it could be colin powell. but we got barack obama. we got a man who was a product of a progressive movement. as we stand here tonight ever so humble, reminiscing about ancestors who did not see this day, about people like medgar evers who gave their lives so we would see this day, let us walk out of here tonight talking to our children as members of a movement that is triumphant. i want you not to forget what

happened last year or two years ago when they said we could never be where we are right now. when they tried to teach our children that the tea party was not a group of people who started the war for democracy against the king, but rather a group of people who started the war against democracy for would- be kings. and they said that we organized people would be run over by organized money. they said that we cannot organize people, would never turn out like we did in 2008. they said that they could attack women's rights, lgbt rights, students' rights, workers' rights, voting rights, and we would vulcanize. and then something funny happened on their way to victory.

we came together like we have never come together before. [applause] they said that we could not pass marriage equality in one state on the ballot, and we won victories in all four states. [applause] they said that we could never say comprehensive immigration reform, and now sean hannity says that he supports it. they said that they were going to steal our democracy from us, and we took it back. so here is the challenge. the challenge to us is to remember what we learned when we first entered this movement, that you never elect someone to make change happen for you. you elect somebody to make it a little easier for your movement

to keep on making change after. and so, brothers and sisters, i implore you tonight, have a good time, party caressed well, then get right back on the battlefield tuesday morning because we took our democracy back and we ain't giving it up to nobody. thank you and god bless. fire it up. fire it up. fire it up! god bless you all. >> that was president of the naacp, benjamin jealous, speaking at the peace ball, voices of hope and resistance come here in washington, d.c. on sunday night. we will be back with more from the peace ball couldn't angela davis, sonia sanchez and others in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> sweet honey in the rock performing at the peace ball last night. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from washington, d.c., bringing you special coverage of today's inauguration as hundreds of thousands gathered here in the capital. as many as 800,000 people are expected to attend the celebration -- smaller than merely to lead people who crammed into washington to witness the 2009 inauguration, but still the largest second inauguration in history. the first, by the way, four years ago was the largest event ever to take place in washington, d.c. after our regular program ends, we will continue to bring you coverage until 1:00 p.m. eastern time, including the swearing in ceremony. this year the inauguration also comes on january 21, the federal holiday in honor of dr. martin luther king, jr. later in our special coverage, we will air excerpts of some of

his less often heard speeches. but now we return to some of the voices from the peace ball last night, voices of hope and resistance. at the arena stage of the mead center for american theater, a cultural center here in washington. this is renowned author, educator and political activist angela davis who spoke last night, founder of the group critical resistance, a grassroots effort to in the prison industrial complex. davis voiced support for president obama, the said much work needs to be done. >> let me say this time around we cannot subordinate our aspirations and our hopes to presidential the agendas. our passionate support for president barack obama and it is wonderful that we can say for the second time, president barack obama, and we support him and are passionate about

that support. but that support should also be expressed in our determination to raise issues that have largely been ignored or not appropriately addressed by the administration. and let me say that we are aware that we should be celebrating, critically celebrating the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation. [applause] there should be massive celebrations this year. what has happened other than the film "lincoln"? and of course with 2.5 million people behind bars today, the prison system, the immigrant detention system are terrible remainders and reminders of slavery.

mass incarceration has devastated our communities. it is a false solution to problems that have persisted since the era of slavery. we should be addressing the fate of our schools, the continuing crisis of over incarceration, over punishment. we should be addressing the part played by private prison corporations in pushing for repressive legislation designed to incarcerate ever increasing numbers of immigrants. last year, some 500,000 -- half a million immigrants were detained. that of course is the largest number ever. the past still haunts us. it goes strides the echoes of our lives. to overcome poverty, to overcome racism, we must also overcome

the xenophobia, homophobia, justice for african americans is organically linked to justice for palestinians. the struggle goes on. as in june at jordan said, we are the ones we have been waiting for. thank you. >> the renowned author, educator, founder of the critical resistance movement angela davis speaking at the peace ball, voices of hope and resistance sunday night. here in washington, d.c., just before heading to the peace ball, i ran into rev. ben chavis, member of the wilmington 10, former assistant to dr. martin luther king, jr., former executive director of the naacp. when we last spoke on "democracy now!" it was in december when he and others for making a last- ditch push for the north carolina governor bev perdue to

pardon him and nine others known as the wilmington 10. it was 1971, the city of clinton was in the midst of a civil rights struggle. after what and restored a black neighborhood was firebombed, police officers and firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames but came under gunfire. an african-american teen was killed by police that night, a white man was shot and killed the next day. the national guard moved in. nine black men and one white woman were rounded up, hustled off to jail for their alleged involvement. the young defendants, the majority just high school age, were collectively sentenced to a total of more than 280 years in prison. rev. ben chavis served more than five years in prison. shortly after he appeared on "democracy now!" last month, governor perdue issued pardons of innocence for the wilmington 10. the move came after newly surfaced documents revealed the prosecutor in the case made

racially biased notes next to potential jurors, writing comments like "kkk good." i asked rev. chavis last night what it felt like to be attending president of the inauguration on dr. martin luther king day, after finally being pardoned. >> this is a 40-year case of injustice. 40 years. better late than never. and i want to thank the movement. this would not have been possible without millions of people weighing in. here to celebrate the second inauguration of president barack obama, also an occasion of martin luther king, jr.'s birthday. we feel so happy to be finally vindicated. but we must reaffirm our support for the continuation of the movement for freedom, justice, equality throughout the world.

>> in this exoneration the government published governor issued, what most affected you in what she said? what most affected as was a quote "a case of naked racism." southern governor, democratic governor, a female governor to make that statement on her last day of office shows how powerful the movement of freedom can be when elected officials in southern states say, we must right the wrongs. >> have you spoken with the other survivors? >> yes, we had a big celebration. when i finally got the piece of paper with the governor's signature on it, i said, this paper feels very heavy. it is 40 years of weight. >> how long did you serve in prison? rex five and a half years. >> how you get those years back? >> i cannot get those years back, but i'm going use what time i spend in prison to rededicate ourselves.

it is hard to restore the years you've taken away, but we will wear them as a badge of honor and pride and encourage young people to learn from the civil rights movement so we don't have to go back and repeat history. >> why do you say this was a movement victory as opposed to a governor just changing -- >> the governor responded to the movement of the people. keep in mind, we went to prison because of the movement, and the movement also set us free. >> benjamin chavis, member of the wilmington 10, former assistant to dr. martin luther king, jr. and former executive director of the naacp. we were speaking just before i headed off to the -- cover the peace ball in washington, d.c. he was headed off to a hip-hop ball. next at the peace ball, voices of hope and resistance. we turn to put an activist s onia sanchez reading a poem

called "morning song andnd eveng walk for martin luther king." >>and god i move imperfect through this ancient city. quiet. no one hears no one feels the tears of multitudes. the silence thickens i have lost the shore of your kind seasons who will hear my voice nasal against distinguished actors. o i am tired of voices without sound i will rest on this ground full of mass hymns. you have been here since i can remember martin from selma to montgomery from watts to chicago from nobel peace prize to memphis, tennessee. unmoved along the angles and rnrners of aristocratic confusion. it was a time to be born forced forward a time to wander inside drums

the good times with eyes like stars and soldiers without medals or weapons but honor, yes. and you told us: the storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation or armament and you told us: the storm will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables men (and women) everywhere to live in dignity and human decency. all summerlong it has rained and the water rises in our throats and all that we sing is rumored forgotten. whom shall we call when this song comes of age? and they came into the city carrying their fastings in their eyes and the young 9- year-old sudanese boy said, "i want something to eat at nite a place to sleep." and they came into the city hands salivating guns,

and the young 9-year-old words snapped red with vowels: mama mama auntie auntie i dead i dead i deaddddd. in our city of lost alphabets where only our eyes strengthen the children you spoke like peter like john you fisherman of tongues untangling our wings you inaugurated iron for our masks exiled no one with your touch and we felt the thunder in your hands. we are soldiers in the army we have to fight, although we have to cry. we have to hold up the freedom banners we have to hold it up until we die. and you said we must keep going and we became small miracles, pushed the wind down, entered the slow bloodstream of america surrounded streets and "reconcentradas," tuned our legs against olympic politicians elaborate cadavers growing fat underneath western hats. and we scraped the rust from old lawsol went floor by floor window by window

and clean faces rose from the dust became new brides and bridegrooms among change men and women coming for their inheritance. and you challenged us to catch up with our own breaths to breathe in latinos asians native americans whites blacks gays lesbians muslims and jews, to gather up our rainbow-colored skins in peace and racial justice as we try to answer your long- ago question: is there a nonviolent peacemaking army that can shut down the pentagon? and you challenged us to breathe in bernard haring's words: the materialistic growth--mania for more and more production and more and more markets for selling unnecessary and even damaging products is a sin against the generation to come what shall we leave to them: rubbish, atomic weapons numerous enough to make the earth uninhabitable, a poisoned

atmosphere, polluted water? "love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams," said a russian writer. now i know at great cost martin that as we burn something moves out of the flames (call it spirit or apparition) till no fire or body or ash remain we breathe out and smell the world again aye-aye-aye ayo-ayo-ayo ayeee- ayeee-ayeee amen men men men awoman woman woman woman men men men woman woman woman men men woman woman men woman womanmen. the earth has tilted, tear martin, as the wicked each morning to an internal alarm clock called hope, i count the morning stars, the air so sweet anointing the day, hope comes on warning sales and we fault

ourselves in the millet -- men mourning.of remember the thirst of your eyes, the hands confessing peace, peace and racial justice. we are the now, the history that you talked about to make on this honored walk ways. this day as the precision of your dreams. in the four corners of this country, we live inside your breath and love and try to answer the most important question of the 21st century, what does it mean to be human? what does it mean to be human? and as we try to answer that question, we cannot break across the sound of your words, not symbols and posturing, not

lesions with this new president, dear martin, we hope, we hope we are inaugurating a new day come a time for all americans, we can operate like new men and women should, coming out of themselves toward peace and justice and freedom, so, come. come with yourselves and your life, live, live, singing eyes, and hands. we have come to celebrate life until we become seen men and women again. come come come come in number in any way of breathing for the world, a new way of peace and justice for the world. come and look at better. ebay ebayeeeeee ebay ebayeeeee ebayeeeee yeee yeeee yeee ye ye ye

thank you. >> poet, sonia sanchez reading from her poem "mornings on an evening walk for martin luther king." she read that poem last sat at the piece of honoring voices of hope and resistance. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. there are many protests that are planned for today -- three activist groups have received permission to protest president

obama along the route of the inaugural parade including the anti-war group answer, which says it expects thousands. another group is called the park and justice coalition that estimates about 400 protesters will gather in a park close to the white house and march toward the parade route during the ceremony, objecting to the use of drones in military operations and social injustice. last night, another of the people who spoke at the peace ball, voices of hope and resistance, was medea benjamin, co-founder of codepink. she recently returned from pakistan where she traveled with families of drone victims. >> just remember, the drone policy is one where the u.s. is telling the world we can go anywhere in the world we want, kill anyone we want on the basis of secret information. it is a policy that is inhumane.

it is a policy that is counterproductive. it is a policy that is totally illegal according to international law, and it is something that must be stopped. [applause] so we were recently in pakistan, a group of 34 very brave americans, not only from codepink but groups like the veterans for peace, that went to say to the pakistanis, we do not support the drone program and we care about you and your lives. your lives are as precious as our lives. and when we were in a meeting with hundreds and hundreds of postion men, one of them stood up and said, "if you have come here to win our hearts and minds, you have done so." and it showed us that if we go

around the world showing we care about other people's lives, if we go around the world spreading compassion and kindness, we will get love back in return. so let's go out spreading a lot of love, and let's make sure that we force our congress and our president to represent the policies of kindness and compassion that we as americans hold dear. >> medea benjamin speaking last night at the peace ball. last week when the national rifle association held its first news conference after the newtown massacre, she was there holding a sign saying "the nra has blood on its hands." she was taken out by security as one of the heads of the nra spoke. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

the piece ball, which was held at the mead center for american theater, was thought affiliated with any party. thousands came out. the number of official balls celebrating open as an operation is down from 10 in 2009 to just two this year. this time obama agreed to except unlimited corporate funding. donors have been offered a number of sponsorship options including the top tier of $1 million for institutions, $250,000 for individuals. in contrast, corporate lobbyists and political action committee donors were banned in 2009. individual contributions were capped at $50,000. several of the nation's best powerful corporate lobbying forces are bankrolling this year's festivities including at&t, microsoft, southern co. which have collectively spent almost $160 million on lobbying since obama first took office. today's ceremony falls on the third anniversary of one of the

supreme court citizens united decisions, allowing unlimited outside spending on political campaigns. for more we're joined here in washington, d.c. by liz bartolomeo, communications manager for the sun life foundation, which is tracking money and influence at the inauguration. they have a website called political party time that tracks all of the informal celebrations taking place in addition to the two official balls. it also features a map that shows who's fundraising and where. liz bartolomeo, we welcome you back to "democracy now!" tell us what is happening today in these officials balls for the >> you'll see the pomp and circumstance. you'll see the president and first lady have a dance, lots of people and ball gowns and tuxedos. at the convention center in d.c. the will have the commander in chief ball as well as the lovely

titled "inaugural ball." the salut foundation is tracking some of these unofficial parties. some are like the peace ball, which are people gathering together to celebrate democracy, celebrate the cause, and lead to a celebrating inauguration. other events might be a dance party at a popular nightclub, there might be a fundraiser as well as a celebration for those groups, or they may be more corporate-funded, lobbyist- funded defense. tell us about the two official balls. >> shortridge the two official balls are with the taxpayers do, as well as a presidential inaugural committee. it is a private group that has been set up by the obama ministration and they're collecting and upwards of $50 million to throw these events. there's the commander in chief of for military families. those in the service.

the in our robo is going to be -- the nro ball, there was a ticketmaster situation that not everybody got their tickets, but they will be popular events. >> what is the black tie event. black tie in boots is what the texas state society had this weekend. it is a very popular event. it was definitely one had to go to during the bush administration, him being from texas, but the texas society headed across the potomac river at the national harbour and it features some members of congress, country music and also corporate sponsors. the blue shield of texas, which give an upwards of one quarter million dollars to sponsor it. >> and what is blueshield question of how significant is that? >> a big insurance company. health care reform is definitely on the minds of members of congress, on the minds of the public. they have to be a big get their

name out their front and center to the hundreds of people. >> explain what it is pushing for in terms of health care, for example, the individual mandate. >> and not that familiar with what blueshield of texas was pushing, but a lot of stuff that is happening now in 2013 with the health care reform will be coming up. this is just the first of many of healthcare industries that will be pushing their agenda in washington. >> the other companies involved with this one? >> chevron, exxon mobil, the oil industry being something definitely deep in the heart of texas, so to speak, also some airlines gave money. southwest airlines, united, they have a few hubs in the state as well. they gave it upwards of $50,000. still, for one night for a few hours customer spending $50,000, $250,000 just to get in front of a small group of people? what's georgia state society? >> celebrating the peach staea.

they had gladys knight as one of the honorees. they have a lot of local businesses set in the state like coca-cola, home depot, kia motors as well as ups. why them? ups is active here in washington. they have a town house on capitol hill where they do a lot of fund-raisers. they're not a surprising to see. >> talk about the presidential inauguration committee. >> pic is the acronym, is a private group. they fundraiser to help support the official inaugural balls, the parade itself. it is not inexpensive to do. what you mentioned what they're doing this year, they're saying yes to unlimited money in this post citizens-united age. they are reaching out to

corporations, unions -- no lobbyists or political action committees, but last year in 2009, rather, this group raised about $53 million. this year they're not saying how much they're raising. we will not know until april. all they have on line is about 1000 names including members of congress, unions, some bundlers and a number of corporations. >> what about disclosure around the voluntary pro-inaugural disclosure of donors? >> it is weak this year, to be honest. what happened in 2009, the inaugural committee, about two months before they posted the names of their donors, how much they gave, where they were from, who the employers were. it was a great way to see real- time online disclosure of who is funding these inaugural events read this year all we see is a very, very long list of names. we will not know until april

what they actually gave. >> which way are we going? >> we seem to be slowly but surely to steps toward, one step back. when president obama was first elected office, he promised to be the most transparent administration. there has been a lot of gain. there has been just some not while moving toward. it is the 30th anniversary dollar-third anniversary of citizens united. we still have unlimited corporate and union spending, unlimited personal spending in our elections. soft money is on the rise. there is no disclose act. the president has been fairly silent on this topic. we're curious to see how this new c4 -- the former campaign organizing for america, how they have promised online disclosure of who their finders are. we will see if they live up to that promise. >> liz bartolomeo, thank you for

enlightening us. we turned back to historical voices, another of the speakers last night was julian bond, the leading civil rights activist, former chair of the board of the naacp, helped found the student nonviolent coordinating committee, was the first president of the southern poverty law center, a state legislator in georgia for over 20 years. he spoke about the effects of obama's election victory. >> we are gathered here to celebrate the reelection of president obama and in a commencement arguably astounding, if not more so, then the first. we're here celebrating the best news, the president is acting as if he won. [applause] and when he didn't, and every state that was part of the -- and when he did, every state the was part of the confederacy, including almost 90% in both

alabama and mississippi. similarly in this cycle, romney won the presidency of the confederate states of america, a caring nine of the 11 rebel states. he achieved his high share of the white vote in the state with the largest percentage of black voters, mississippi. indeed, romney's strong national showing among white voters was almost exclusively driven by a stark support from southern voters. george w. bush got 62 million votes in the 2004 election and conservatives said he had a mandate. barack obama got 62 million votes in the two -- 2012 election, and conservatives started a secessionist movement. but the obama campaign took it to them and made a difference in the end. they helped create a new electorate, a coalition of concerned and they turned it out on election day. our two political parties are separate and not equal. the percentage of republicans

who are white has remained fairly steady since 2000 at about 87%. the percentage of democrats who are white in contrast has dropped from 64% in 2000 to 55% now. independents have gone from 79% to 67% white since 2000. the depth of republican dependence on white voters explains a lot about the recent election. not least about its outcome. republican efforts to suppress minority voters back fired big time. [applause] in florida alone, 266,000 more hispanics voted than in 2008. similarly in ohio, 209,000 more blacks voted than in 2008. overall, while romney received 59% of the white vote, all hot -- obama -- omaha?

obama got 93% of the black vote and 73% of hispanic and asian votes respectively. almost 90% of bronner's voters were white. obama carried 55% of women's votes. >> julian bond, civil rights leader. we end today on this year of obama's inauguration coming on the federal holiday in honor of dr. martin luther king, jr., who delivered his "i have a dream" speech half a century ago, not far from here at the lincoln memorial. coming up in our coverage, we will be playing in the five- hours of coverage, whether your station broadcasts it or not, we will be on democracynow.org. we end today with the words of dr. king himself. >> that if we are to get on the right side of the war revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of

values. we must rapidly begin from a theme oriented society wind machines and computers, profit motors and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. a true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. on the one hand, we are called to play the good samaritan on life's roadside that will be only an initial act, one day we must come to see the whole jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed

as they make that journey on life's highway. true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. [applause] a true revolution of values will send look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth, with the righteous indignation it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the west investing huge sums of money in asia, africa, and south america, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the country's, and say, "this is not just." it will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of south

american said, "this is not just." the western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from is not just. a true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "this way of settling differences is not just." this business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nationr's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is

approaching spiritual death. [applause] america, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. there is nothing except a tragic death wish to ravenna us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. >> dr. martin luther king, jr., speaking at 04, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated in memphis. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by

democracy now!] for those staying with us, we will continue our broadcast for four more hours including the inauguration. if your station is not running as, you can go to democracynow.org.

>> from pacifica, this is democracy now! this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. as we continue with our expanded coverage of the second inauguration of president barack obama. as many as 800,000 people are expected to attend this year's celebration, smaller than the nearly 2 million people that crammed into washington, d.c. to witness this 2009 inauguration, but still, the largest second inauguration in history. this is all taking place on the federal holiday that honors dr. martin luther king jr.. dr. king was born january 15

1929. he was assassinated april 4th, 1968, at the lorraine motel in memphis, tennessee. he was just 29 -- 39 years old. while dr. king is primarily remembered as a suave rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the poor people's campaign, to address issues of economic justice. dr. king was a fierce critic of foreign policy in the vietnam war. in his beyond vietnam speech, which he delivered at the york's riverside church, 1967, a year before the day he was assassinated, dr. king calledll the united states the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. "time" magazine called the speech demagogic slander that sounded like a script for radio hanoi.

today, we let you decide. we play an excerpt of dr. king's speech, beyond vietnam. >> after 1954, they watched us conspire to prevent elections which could have surely brought ho chi minh to power over the united vietnam and they realized they had been did -- betrayed again. when we asked why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be remembered. also it must be clear that the leaders of hanoi considered the presence of american troops in support of the diem regime to have been the initial military breach of the geneva agreements concerning foreign troops. and they remind us that they did not begin to send troops in large numbers and even supplies,

and to the south, until american forces had moved into the tens of thousands. hanoi remembers how leaders refused to tell us the truth about the earlier north vietnamese overtures for peace, how the president claimed they had not existed when they had clearly been made. " she man has watched as america spoke of peace and built up its forces. now he has surely heard the increasing international rumors of american plans for an invasion of the north. he knows a bombing and shelling and mining, we are doing a part of traditional pre-invasion strategy. perhaps only his sense of humor and irony can save him when he hears the most powerful nation of the world speaking of aggression as it drops thousands of bombs on a poor, weak nation more than 8,000 miles away from

its shores. at this point, i should make it clear that while i have tried in these last few minutes to give a voice to the voiceless in vietnam's, and to understand the arguments of those who are called enemy, i am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as anything else. for it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. we are adding cynicism to the promise of death, for they must know after the short period there, that none of the things we claim to be fighting for really involve. before long they must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among vietnamese, and the moree sophisticated surely realize

that we are on the side of the wealthy and the secure, while recreate a hail for the poor. somehow, this madness must cease. we must stop. i speak as a child of god and brother to the suffering poor of vietnam. i speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose coach is being subverted. i speak for the port of america, who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in vietnam. i speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. i speak as one who loves america, to the leaders of our own nation, the great initiative in this war is ours.

the initiative to stop it must be ours. this is a message of the great buddhist leaders of vietnam. recently one of them wrote these words, "each day the war goes on, the hatred increases in the heart of the vietnamese, and in the hearts of those humanitarian instincts, the americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. it is curious that the americans who calculate so carefully on the possibility of military victory do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. the image of america will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism.

if we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in vietnam. if we do not stop our war against the people of vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. the world now demands a maturity of america that we may not be able to achieve. it demands that we admit we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the vietnamese people. the situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. in order to atone for our sins and errors in vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war.

i would like to suggest five concrete things that our government should do to begin part of our ongoing commitment might well express itself in an offer to ratify them to any vietnamese who fears for his life under the new regime which included the liberation front. then we must make what reparations we can for the damage we have done. we must provide the medical aid that is badly needed, making it available in this country if necessary. meanwhile [applause], meanwhile, we in the churches and synagogues have a

continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. we must continue to raise our voices and our lives if our nation persists in its perverse ways in vietnam. we must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative method of protest possible. these are the times for real choices and not false ones. we are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. every man of humane convictions must decide on the protests that best suits his convictions but we must all protest. now there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us

all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in vietnam. i say we must enter that struggle, but i wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. the war in vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the american spirits, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing concerned committees for the next generation. they will be concerned about guatemala and peru. they will be concerned about thailand and cambodia. they will be concerned about mozambique and south africa. we will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in american life and policy.

[applause] [sustained applause] so such thoughts take us beyond vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living god. in 1957 a sensitive american official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. during the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which has now justified the presence of u.s.

military advisors in venezuela. this need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of american forces in guatemala. it tells why american helicopters are being used against guerrillas in cambodia and why american napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in peru. it is with such activity that the words of the late john f. kennedy come back to haunt us. five years ago he said, "those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." [applause] increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make

peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. i am convinced that if we are to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. we must rapidly begin [applause], we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing- oriented society to a person- oriented society. when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. a true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present

policies. on the one hand we are called to play the good samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. one day we must come to see that the whole jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. it comes to see than an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. [applause] a true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. with righteous indignation, it

will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the west investing huge sums of money in asia, africa, and south america, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "this is not just." it will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of south america and say, "this is not just." the western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. a true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "this way of settling differences is not just." this business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men

home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. [sustained applause] america, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. there is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace

will take precedence over the pursuit of war. >> dr. martin luther king speaking april 4th, 1967, in new york, explaining why he opposed the war in vietnam. we will come back to the speech after the break. [♪]

>> mahlia jackson singing "take

my hand." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we return to dr. martin luther king's speech. some call it beyond vietnam, others, why i oppose the war in vietnam. it will 4th, 1967 at riverside church in new york. >> these are revolutionary times. all over the globe, men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wombs of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born the shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. we in the west must support these revolutions. it is a sad fact that because of

comfort, complacency, or morbid fear of communism, and our approach is to adjust to injustice. the western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti revolutionary. this has driven many to feel that only marxism has a revolutionary spirit. therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions that we initiated. our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. with this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores, and thereby speed the day when

"every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low [audience:] (yes); the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." a genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. this call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. this oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has

now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. when i speak of love i am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. i'm not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. i am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. this hindu-muslim-christian- jewish-buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of saint john: "let us love one another (yes), for love is god. (yes) and every one that loveth is born of god and knoweth god. he that loveth not knoweth not god, for god is love.

if we love one another, god dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us." let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. we can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. the oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. as arnold toynbee says: "love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word." unquote. we are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. we are confronted with the

fierce urgency of now. in this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. procrastination is still the thief of time. life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. the tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood-it ebbs. we may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "too late." there is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. omar khayyam is right: "the moving finger writes, and having writ moves on."

we still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. we must move past indecision to action. we must find new ways to speak for peace in vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. if we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. now let us begin. now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. this is the calling of the sons of god, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. shall we say the odds are too

great? shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? will our message be that the forces of american life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? or will there be another message-of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? the choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history. as that noble bard of yesterday, james russell lowell, eloquently stated: once to every man and nation comes a moment do decide, in the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, god's new messiah offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice

goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light. though the cause of evil prosper, yet 'tis truth alone is strong though her portions be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown standeth god within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. and if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. if we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. if we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over america and all over the world,

when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. [applause] >> dr. martin luther king delivering his speech "beyond vietnam, new york's riverside church, 1967. a year to the day before he was assassinated. he would have been 84 years old this past week. his birthday, on january 15, 1929. we are broadcasting today on the second inauguration day of president obama, that is taking place on the federal holiday marking dr. king's birthday. right now, here in washington, d.c., the mall is filling up with people, hundreds of thousands have come to watch the inauguration. in 2009, close to 2 million people came. it was not only the largest inauguration in u.s. history,

but the largest event ever held in the nation's capital. it was absolutely freezing them. people had water bottles, the water had froze. this time around, it is still freezing but not quite as cold, around 34 degrees, but people who are especially on the western front of the capital, who are sitting in the stand where president obama will once again take the oath of office, they had to gather at 5:30 this morning. in this hour, as we continue our five-hour special broadcast on this inauguration day, we continue with the speeches of dr. king. the speech you have just heard, why i oppose the war in vietnam, april 4th, 1967, a year before the day he was assassinated.

the night before he died, dr. king delivered his last major address. he was in memphis to support striking sanitation workers as he built momentum for a poor people's march on washington. they were trying to organize a local, local 1707. this is some of his last speech, i have been to the mountaintop. >> you know if i was standing at the beginning of time with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the almighty said to me, martin luther king, which age would you like to live in?

i would pick my mental flight by egypt and i would watch dog's the children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of egypt across the red sea, through the wilderness, on to the promised land, and in spite of its magnificence, i would not stop there. i would move on by grief and take m mind to mount olympus and i would see plato, aristotle, saugerties, euripides, and aristophanes, the symbols of on the parthenon.

and i would watch them around the parthenon as they discussed the grade and internal issues of reality, but i would not stop there. i would go on even to the great heyday of the roman empires. and i would see developments around there, through various members and leaders, but i would not stop there. . i would even come up to the day of the renaissance and get a quick picture of all that the renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man, but i would not stop there.

i would even go by the way that the man for whom i am named had his habitat. and i wouldn't watch martin luther as he attacked his 95 theses on the door of the church of would member, i would not stop there. i would come up even to 1863 and watch a vacillating president by the name of abraham lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the emancipation proclamation, but i would not stop there.

i would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man the bankruptcy of his nation. and come with an eloquent cry that fear itself. but i wouldn't stop there. strangely enough, i would turn to the almighty, and say, "if you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, i will be happy." [applause] now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. the nation is sick. trouble is in the land; confusion all around. that's a strange statement. but i know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you

see the stars. and i see god working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding something is happening in our world. the masses of people are rising up. and wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in johannesburg, south africa; nairobi, kenya; accra, ghana; new york city; atlanta, georgia; jackson, mississippi; or memphis, tennessee the cry is always the same "we want to be free." [applause]

and another reason that i'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we're going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demand didn't force them to do it. survival demands that we grapple with them. men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. but now, no longer can they just talk about it. it is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence! [applause] that is where we are today. and also in the human rights revolution, if something isn't

done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. [applause] now, i'm just happy that god has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. allowedhappy that he's me to be in memphis. [applause] i can remember, i can remember when negroes were just going

around as ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn't itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. but that day is all over. we mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in god's world. [applause] and that's all this whole thing is about. we aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. we are saying that we are determined to be men. we are determined to be people.

[applause] we are saying that we are god's children. livehat we don't have to like we are forced to live. now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? it means that we've got to stay together. we've got to stay together and maintain unity. you know, whenever pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. what was that? he kept the slaves fighting among themselves. but whenever the slaves get

together, something happens in pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. when the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery. >> dr. martin luther king cover april 4th, 1968, the night before he was assassinated. we will come back to the speech in memphis, tennessee. in the next hour, we will be speaking with ralph nader. when dr. martin luther king was in memphis, he was there building momentum for a poor people's march. consumer advocate, three-time presidential candidate ralph nader is right now beating the drums around increasing the minimum wage. we will also be joined by clarence lusane, author of "the black history of the white house." we will find out exactly who built the white house. from pacifica, this is democracy now!

if you want a copy of our annual tribute to dr. king, with his vietnam, and this speech you are listening to now, you could go to our website at democracynow.org. we will come back to this last address, in a moment. [♪]

>> nina simone. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we return to dr. king's last speech, given the night before he was assassinated, april 3, 1968, a rainy night in memphis, tennessee. >> we are not going to let any mays stopped us. we are masters in our nonviolent movement, in disarming police

forces, they do not know what to do. i have seen them so often. i remember, in birmingham, alabama, when we were in the majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 15th street baptist church day after day. by the 100th, we would move out and bull connor would tell them to sell the dollar forand bull connor would tell them to send the dogs forth, and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, "ain't gonna let nobody turn me around." bull connor next would say, "turn the fire hoses on." and as i said to you the other night, bull connor didn't know history. he knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the

transphysics that we knew about. and that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. and we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. if we were baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. if we were methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water. that couldn't stop us. and we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we'd go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we'd just go on singing, "over my head i see freedom in the air." and then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were

stacked in there like sardines in a can. and they would throw us in, and old bull would say, "take them off," and they did; and we would just go on in the paddy wagon singing, "we shall overcome." and every now and then we'd get in the jail, and we'd see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. and there was a power there which bull connor couldn't adjust to; and so we ended up transforming bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in birmingham. [applause] now we've got to go on in memphis just like that. the half to give our struggles

to the end. nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in memphis. we have got to see it through. when we have our march, you need to be there. if it means leaving work, if it means leaving school, be there. be concerned about your brother. you may not be on strike, but neither we go up together, or we go down together.ge let us develop a kind of

dangerous on selfishness one day a man came to jesus; and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters in life. at points, he wanted to trick jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than jesus knew, and throw him off base. now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical andheological debate. but jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between jerusalem and jericho. and he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. you remember that a levite and a priest passed by on the other side.

they didn't stop to help him. and finally a man of another race came by. he got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. but he got down with him, administering first aid, and helped the man in need. jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the "i" into the "thou," and to be concerned about his brother. now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the levite didn't stop. at times we say they were busy going to a church meeting an ecclesiastical gathering and they had to get on down to jerusalem so they meeting. at other times we would

speculate that there was a religious law that "one who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty- four hours before the ceremony." and every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to jerusalem, or down to jericho, rather to organize a "jericho road improvement association." that's a possibility. maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effort. but i'm going to tell you what my imagination tells me. it's possible that those men were afraid. you see, the jericho road is a dangerous road. i remember when mrs.

king and i were first in jerusalem. we rented a car and drove from jerusalem down to jericho. and as soon as we got on that road, i said to my wife, "i can see why jesus used this as the setting for his parable." it's a winding, meandering road. it's really conducive for ambushing. you start out in jerusalem, which is about 1,200 miles, or rather 1,200 feet, above sea level. and by the time you get down to jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2,200 feet below sea level. that's a dangerous road. in the days of jesus it came to be known as the "bloody pass." and you know, it's possible that the priest and the levite looked

over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. and so the first question that the levite asked was, "if i stop to help this man, what will happen to me? " but then the good samaritan came by. and he reversed the question: "if i do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" that's the question before you tonight. not, "if i stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job? " not, "if i stop to help the sanitation

workers what will happen to all of the hours that i usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor? " the question is not, "if i stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me? " the question is, "if i do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them? " that's the question. [applause] several years ago, i was in new york city. autographing the first book and i had written. and while sitting down autographing books, a demented black woman came up. the only question i heard from her was, are you martin luther king? i'm looking down riding and i said yes. the next minute i felt something beating on my chest.

before i knew it, i had been stabbed by this demented woman. i was rushed to harlem hospital. it was a dark saturday afternoon. and that blade had gone through, and the x-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. and once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood that's the end of you. it came out in the new york times the next morning, that if i had merely sneezed, i would have died. well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheelchair in the hospital. they allowed me to read some of the mail that came in,

and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. i read a few, but one of them i will never forget. i had received one from the president and the vice president. i've forgotten what those telegrams said. i'd received a visit and a letter from the governor of new york, but i've forgotten what the letter said. but there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the white plains high school. and i looked at that letter, and i'll never forget it. it said simply, "dear dr. king: i am a ninth-grade student at the white plains high school." she said, "while it should not matter, i would like to mention that i am a white girl.

i read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. and i read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. and i'm simply writing you to say that i'm so happy that you didn't sneeze." [applause] and i want to say tonight, i want to say that i too am happy that i didn't sneeze. because if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the south started sitting-in at lunch counters. and i knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the american dream. and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the declaration of constitution.

if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been around here in 1961 when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in interstate travel. if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when negroes in albany, georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. and whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent! [applause] if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of birmingham, alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the civil rights bill. if i had sneezed, i wouldn't

have had a chance later that year, in august, to try to tell america about a dream that i had had. if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been down in selma, alabama, to see the great movement there. if i had sneezed, i wouldn't have been in memphis to see the community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. i'm so happy that i didn't sneeze. [applause] and they were telling me, now it doesn't matter now. it really doesn't matter what happens now. i left atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "we are sorry for the delay, but we have dr.

martin luther king on the plane. and to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. and we've had the plane protected and guarded all night." and then i got to memphis. and some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. what would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? well, i don't know what will happen now. we've got some difficult days ahead. but it really doesn't matter with me now. because i've been to the mountaintop. [applause] and i don't mind.

like anybody, i would like to live a long life. longevity has its place. but i'm not concerned about that now. i just want to do god's will. to he's allowed me to go up the mountain. and i've looked over. and i've seen the promised land. i may not get there with you. but i want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! so i'm happy, tonight. i'm not worried about anything. i'm not fearing any man. mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord!

>> dr. martin luther king, april 3, 1968, within 24 hours, he would be dead, assassinated on the balcony of the lorraine motel april 4, 1968. today is the federal holiday that honors him and the second inauguration of president obama. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from washington, d.c., today, where president barack obama is set to publicly take the oath of office for his second term after become the first african-american u.s. president four years ago. the inauguration ceremony is expected to begin in an hour- and-a-half and we will be bringing it to you in full. as many as 800,000 people are expected to attend this year's celebration, smaller than the nearly 2 million people who crammed into washington dc to

witness his 2009 inauguration, but still the largest second inauguration in history. the mall is filling up as we speak. the bands are playing. it is very cold outside, but still hundreds of thousands of people are coming. the first inauguration of president obama, about 2 million people can, was the largest event in washington, d.c. history. it is also the holiday that honors the birth of dr. martin luther king, born january 15, 1929. last week he would have turned 84 years84ld. it was a hard-fought victory to achieve a federal holiday honoring dr. king. in the background, you can hear the band's playing today for president barack obama.

dr. king died in memphis, tennessee, where he was assassinated. there to march with sanitation workers. there to build the poor people's march on washington, which is why in this hour, we are turning to look at the economy today, one of president obama's unfulfilled campaign promises. many economists and more jobs to be greeted by generating more consumer demand. a bill introduced last year by the illinois democratic congress member jesse jackson, jr. and to do that by increasing the minimum wage for the first time since 2007. the bill was called "catching up to 1968 act of 2012." one prominent supporter of increasing the minimum wage has been longtime consumer advocate, former president to candidate a number of times, ralph nader, the author of several books including "b-17 solutions: new ideas for our american future."

-- "the 17 solutions: the new ideas for american future." we welcome you back. the return to 1968 act, that was the year that we were just listening to dr. king did that last address. >> for most of the american people, it is backwards into the future. 80% of the people in this country make less than their predecessors made in 1968, adjusted for inflation. all of those beautiful words by martin luther king, which ended st. "this is unjust, this is unjust" they are worse now. mr. obama, the first african- american president, it does not echo the sentiments or the revolution of values articulated by martin luther king in 1968. the empire is worse than when martin luther king warned about

the vietnam and spreading war in east asia. there are more drones, more killings of innocent people, more violations of national sovereignties by the obama military. of course the military budget swallows half of the discretionary budget, over $800 billion not counting other sub budgets and a permanent energy. domestically, we have a much higher unemployment rate in 1968. we have more poverty absolutely and relatively and 1968. we certainly have more home foreclosures and more consumer debt. of course, 30 million workers are making today less than the workers made in 1968 adjusted for inflation. that is why we're launching this national drive to overpower congress and split the republicans in congress, organized and what the democrats, so tens of billions

of dollars are poured into the community, into the long deserved pockets of these people, many of whom have children and they don't have health insurance or paid sick leave or big vacations. but they deserve $10.50 minimum wage, which is what it would be in 1968. no big deal. >> explain how that would work, how does an increase in the minimum wage actually work? >> 1, congress can pass it for all of the states. there is no competition between the states that way in terms of wage levels, no competition between businesses, etc. everyone would have to pay the same minimum wage. the other way is what has been happening slowly, san jose passed a higher minimum wage. california has a minimum wage of about $1 more than the $7.25. connecticut has a higher minimum wage, alaska has it.

santa fe i think has at least $9.50 minimum wage for a number of years. >> who fights against it? let's first of all, big business. two-thirds of the low-income workers are employed by walmart, barking, etc.. there are fighting it. even though the heads of these companies are making almost a million dollars a month and the head of walmart makes $11,000 an hour, eight hours every day, not counting benefits and perks. you cannot even find a medieval analogy. maybe king cat in terms of wealth inequality. the small businesses, and some are defined as having people with 500 employees, small businesses employ one-third of the low-income workers. they have been given 18 tax breaks by mr. obama, as he keeps telling us, so they've got theirs. big businesses are mimicking

profit, wallowing in bonuses. they can pay the minimum wage. i just read -- wrote a letter to the head of walmart is that, "look, you grows over $300 billion in u.s.. this will cost you less than $2 billion to take a million or so of your workers up to $10.50. he would get less turnover and more productivity and will sleep better at night." >> how does wal-mart's wages here compared to wages elsewhere, worldwide? >> in western europe, for example, walmart has stores, employees. they have to give them a paid vacation. they're often -- they all have health care because it is universal, government health care. they have to give them paid sick leave, including family sick leave. they have better benefits because they are required to do it. so why is walmart treating

european workers, and in some respect canadian workers -- in ontario, the minimum wage is $10.25, not $7.25 here in the u.s. why is walmart to the workers in foreign countries so better than the workers in this country who built walmart right out of bentonville, arkansas? what you think walmart and companies like it would fight for universal health care. beyond that, would fight for the public auction -- public option, medicare for all, because they're not responsible for paying for it. >> the president of general motors, before that he came to detroit and said, what is going on here? we spend more on health care than steel. he was asked, what about the canadian system?

he said, it works pretty well. they do not want to take on the giant health industry and drug industry. there is an unwritten rule in big business that you do not take on each other's turf because then they can snap back on you. otherwise, your implication of your point is true. if we had big business, to say, look, we would be more competitive with other countries. other countries have universal health insurance. they could get it through congress. >> as mr. -- has mr. duke responded to you? >> i just sent it. we samet with the rats of walmat last year to make this case. -- the reps of what last year to make this case. rick santorum has been forked inflation-adjusted minimum wage and for years so was mitt romney until he waffled during the primaries last year. australia has a 5.3%

unemployment rate and they pay workers 20 years or older $15.96 an hour. the australian dollar is worth more than the u.s. dollar, by a couple of pennies, so they get along pretty well. france is about $11. germany is even higher. we are right at the bottom, right? american exceptionalism. >> i want to play a clip for you. in november, one of the groups organizing the protests and strikes against walmart was called our walmart. this is an advocacy video that they put out. walmart workers explaining what they walked out. a >> we got together. we are stronger together than we are alone. >> make a difference for those who are too scared to come forward. >> stand up, live better.

>> that was the advocacy video they put together. >> in my letter to the ceo mike duke of wal-mart, i said, "you are a billionaire or two from being unionized." the unions do not have the right strategy. if he had a couple of billionaires to say, ok, here is $200 million and here is the strategy -- by the way, i outlined in my political fiction book "only the super rich can save us." how to unionize walmart, it would be done. i don't think many billionaires' may watch this program, but if they want to have a legacy in history -- if you union as walmart, you completely change the direction of worker power in this country. and billions of dollars will go in and jereis this low-wage economy, this race to the bottom where we are becoming an

advanced third world country. that is what we are, and advanced third world country. we're leading in science and technology, but not for the people. mass of a literary power. if you look at the condition that 85% of the country, it is terrible. >> i'm looking right now at those who are walking to their seats. timothy geithner, the outgoing treasury secretary. eric holder, the attorney general. their seats on the west front of the capital, about to witness the second inauguration of president obama. jenna napolitano's, the former governor of arizona, the secretary of homeland security. eric holder, the attorney general. comet, for example, on timothy geithner are. not only timothy geithner, but jack lew, who has been nominated by president obama to be the next secretary treasurer, and how that fits into the issue you're so deeply concerned about right now with minimum wage.

>> a lot of liberal democrats filled with extraordinary help think, well, clinton's second term he does not have to worry. obama doesn't have to worry about re-election so it can be different. it is not one to be different. unless the people wake up in this country and exert a tiny bit of effort in the millions, focusing 0 focus on congress, because that is the fault point, to get minimum wage billed through, jack lew is wall street certified. he is a typical central casting secretary, ok? he is smart, experienced, obedient to wall street, and certified by wall street. so it is one of a seamless transition. then you have the regulatory chiefs. who is one to do with climate change to be the head of the epa? it has to be someone who will support his decision to approve the xl pipeline. >> what happened lisa jackson?

>> he totally mistreated her. he basically said to her in the election year last year, he shut her down, virtually, except for one or two pollution standards. he shut her down. he told her in the white house and the meeting, you are not going to do this. she just left. she cannot take it anymore. i don't blame her. dr. michaels who heads osha, a 58,000 americans die from workplace related diseases and trauma. just think of that. in three weeks, more than 9/11, every three weeks. he told dr. michaels, you will not issue these longstanding supported health standards for workers. he shut them down. there is no evidence he is going to do anything else. the empire continues. the drones have expanded since he was elected. look at the destruction in yemen. he is in danger in this country because in effect he is a

recruitment president for the spread of this kind of fighting, al qaeda-related. general kasich testified was under george w. bush that our presence in iraq is a recruit a device for more and more fighters to comment. this is what is happening with the obama military policy. he is spreading the disaster all over the world. mali is occurring because of libya. we went to libya with the europeans, drove the tribesmen with all their weapons into northern mali. and so it spreads. so it spreads. basically, we have got to wake up as citizens frederick douglass said, power concedes nothing without a demand. what are we doing around the country, watching all of these violent television programs and playing video games and be willing our powerlessness and finding excuses for ourselves

when it is a lot easier than we think? i said in this book many long overdue reforme tax reform, wall street speculation, living wage, full medicare for all, things other countries have, that it is much easier than we think. what we're going to try to prove on the minimum wage is that a few million people spending a few hours on the members of congress, given the polls and the arguments, we can get it. the website is timeforaraise .org. we have to wake up the democrats and wake up the afl-cio and trumka, who was muzzled in charlotte, and had this speech before all these people of the national convention and the democrats never mentioned it. >> what you mean, muzzle? >> shut up that obama does not

move first. you know who tell me that? senator reid's people. trumka, he has got it all over his website let's get a good minimum wage. he will not make a major move with its resources. they're all waiting for obama. it is a highly sensitized -- centralized party. obama never really ran with the democrats in the house. he never gave them the money they wanted from his billion dollar trove. he never campaigned with them the way clinton even did. there is a lot of resentment by the democrats. they have expressed it to me, no less for the >> and a million more people voting for democrats in the house than the republicans and yet the republicans took the house by scores of seats because of gerrymandering. >> that is the excuse for it gerrymandering on both sides. the house democratic caucus put out a list of 60 dangers republican votes, they called it, that pass through the house but anti-women, anti-consumer,

anti-environment, pro-empire, pro-corporate welfare, right? the democrats should have land slighted them. they did not use those 60. they did not use them in each congressional district. it was all about trace the middle-class, forget the poor, never mention the word for a minimum wage. it was all about raising money. they should have a landslided. when i went to the house in march of last year, leading democrats had already conceded to defeat to boehner and cantor. i would say this of people who were in there for 30 years, how many seats do think the democrats are going to win? they never went higher than 50 and needed 25 seats. they ended up with seven. so what are we doing with the democratic party that cannot defend the country against the most ravaging the ignorant, cruel, vicious, anti-people and hire promoting republican party?

what what happened to the bill? then we will talk about we think are the best strategy is to push a florida. jesse jackson is no longer in congress. he was the one, jesse jackson, jr. from illinois, introduced it. what happened there? >> he had about 21 sponsors. then the democrats decided sense of and did not want to make minimum wage an issue, they had george miller put in a bill -- >> the congressman from california critics to whom all democrats differ to on labor issues. they had a hundred or so democrats signed on. it was designed to go nowhere. it was $9.80 minimum wage by 2014. >> by the way, for our viewers and listeners right now, the obama family is coming to the west front of the white house. they are just getting out of their cars in a few moments. i see supreme court chief justice roberts getting out of

his car. >> he did not have a press conference to highlight it with labor, hispanic, black groups. he did not have that. it was just there to decoy away from congressman jesse jackson, jr. and his hard-core progress of supporters in the house. in the senate, it was worse because senator harkin introduces a similar bill, a three-stage bill. introduced in april of last year. he did not have a hearing. there is no filibuster against a democratic committee chair. they could have had a great hearing but did not. i have written senator harkin and said, are you going to have a hearing now? we will see. it is not one happen except back home when some of those 30 million workers are going to take time off from their low- paying jobs after they were and have to surround the way occupy

wall street did around the country, surround the congressional offices of the senators and representatives to start the ball rolling. >> do you think it has to just be the low-paid workers? >> no. we're going to have organizers on this and make a major drive. there are various nonprofit groups to have been working on this for many years that have the data, have the materials. we will start getting some union leaders like roseanne tomorrow from the nurses is on board, the electrical workers are on board. we just have to reach richard trumka and that marbled white building right next to the white house. >> i mention the white house predicament the west front of the capital or the inauguration is taking place. you wrote a piece, ralph, saying "compare the 1912 elections with the 2012 elections." >> it is like night and day.

in 1912, that president william howard taft, teddy roosevelt in the progressive bull moose party, and woodrow wilson. tap was a republican, wilson was the democrat. they were competing as to who is going to be more progressive. president taft wanted federal charting the list chartering of a national corporations for which we still have today. they are chartered and permissive jurisdictions. the streets were seething with workers organizing, rallying. immigrants were demonstrating for justice. the women's movement was putting. for the women's suffrage. the women were leading the consumer movement. it is complete night and day. of course, eugene debs was

running. he got the equivalent of 5 million votes today. he was talking to audiences an open air fields up to 200,000 people, workers with their families. fast-forward to 2012. it is like desolation. it is a advocation. it is apathy. it is to choice is between wall street choice won and lost rejoice too. two choices between your voice -- your version of empire. those bailing out corporate crooks, refusing to put in full medicare for all, which would say 45,000 american lives a year according to harvard medical school research. and i think that comparison shows the decay of our democratic institutions, the weakness of the labor movement, top heavy labor movement, and the section of our energy and

money into wars and invasions and drone strikes overseas at the expense of repairing america back,. >> hold that thought. we are broadcasting today in this five-hour "democracy now!" inauguration special from washington, d.c., from -- not far from the capital where the inauguration will take place in just about an hour and 10 minutes. we will bring you the full inaugural ceremony. we're going to take a break. we're talking to ralph nader, longtime consumer advocate. he also spoke last night at the peace ball, of voices of hope and resistance. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> that was sweet honey in the rocks, singing last that at the peace ball, unaffiliated with any political party, a celebration of the voices of hope and resistance. sweet honey in the rock singing to thousands of people at the mead center for american theater at the arena stage. ralph nader also spoke there, longtime consumer advocate, former presidential candidate. he is author of many books including his latest "the 17 solutions: new ideas for our american features." the inauguration is about to take place in just over an hour. people are gathering in the west front of the capital. just saw eleanor holmes norton making her way. the congresswoman from washington, d.c., though not quite full congress person because d.c. does not have those

rights. velazquez of new york, rahm emanuel i see taking his seat, the former chief of staff of president obama and now mayor of chicago. yes, the washington establishment is making their way to re-and not break president obama, but so are hundreds of thousands of people have come to the capital. the second-largest inauguration history, the first was his first inauguration, the largest event ever in the nation's capital, 2 million people turned out. ralph nader, you have attempted to become president of this country. do you have anything positive to say about president obama? what you think he has done well? what i think he has done well on the student loans for the not as well as a lot of people wanted in this area, but he has given millions of students the opportunity to get loans from the department of education

instead of corporations with their gouging interest rates. it is a remarkably disappointing. we all hope for him to be a great president, but character and personality count far more in the presidency. he does not like to take on powerful forces. his worst trait is turning his back on his supporters. if you probably talk to members of the black caucus in congress, they are bitterly disappointed with him. one of them said they would be marching on the white house if he was a white president. i think we ought to focus -- stop focusing so much on the white house and focus on ourselves. that is why this minimum wage battle is so important it is to be the first victory in the victory for justice. it is doable. we have a website called tim

eforaraise.org. go to it, look at it, sign up. we want people in every city to press firsts city ordinances,- press for city ordinances as other cities have done. we're going to be pushing at the congressional level. remember, president obama came out for $9.50 minimum wage by 2011. that was in his 2008 campaign. he never set it again. why a strike because we did not put organized demands on him. we settled for least worst and settled for letting our leaders not lead. >> what is your assessment of president obama, a pushing for gun control? you see him talking about congressmembers getting paid by the nra and people should challenge that, saying he'll introduce an assault weapons ban. in number of executive orders to challenge the nra.

take that in a big way. if he is beginning his second presidential campaign with bad, we expect he will talk about that in his inauguration speech, perhaps, today. >> that is a good start. as we all know, he will be blocked by republicans in congress with which party should defeat it in a landslide. it all goes back to the election and the emergence once again of john boehner and eric cantor and their ability to block anything that he tries to get through congress. >> john boehner, who is just making his way right now to his seat at the inauguration ceremony. >> t know what percentage of vote he got to re-elect him? 100%. you know why? unlike newt gingrich who topple democratic speaker jim wright and tom foley, the democrats did not even field a candidate. in ohio, against john boehner, speaker of the house, his principal nemesis. then we wonder why he is so

aggressive? see, this is where the problem is. what we need to focus on is, how we organize demands on president obama and the members of congress back home? there are only 536 of them. 650,000, men, women, and children in each congressional district. it is a fraction of those numbers, 1000, 2000, getting behind the kind of long overdue solutions in this country can begin to make it happen. you know what my motto is these days? we have got to realize it is a lot easier than we think. if we exaggerate the opposition as a reflection of our own self- imposed powerlessness, we will be powerless. >> we're talking to ralph nader, longtime consumer advocate and presidential candidate. now talking about minimum wage.

talking for a minute about foreign policy. your assessment of president obama is nominee to the secretary of state, john kerry, and chuck hagel, which he has gone a lot of flak for it, to the secretary of defense? >> those are promising choices. john kerry may finally liberate himself with a push from chuck a goal. they are going to have to take on the military-industrial complex and reduce those mass of weapons systems that were designed for a soviet-peristyle hostility like the f-22 and nuclear subs. they're going have to cut the military budget down from its $800 billion, and get out of afghanistan and iraq. and whether they have the chemistry and the political fortitude to do so, it remains to be seen. but i think they are a better choice than their predecessors. i think john kerry will be

better than hillary clinton, who had to be macho all the time. and panetta, chuck hagel will be better than panetta, who was kind of a fill in. and spent weekends back in california where he really wants to retire. there is a little promise there. but again, it requires the resurgence of mass demonstrations in washington this spring to develop a convergent policy from the militarization of foreign-policy in our society to the public works and infrastructure. good thing jobs in every community cannot be exported. it will take activity back home. it comes down to self-respect. anybody watching this program the cesta themselves, who might? i am nobody. what if 25 million people individually say, who might? i don't have any power, and nobody. guess what? 25 million people don't have any

power. that is done a credible possibility with a constitution that starts out with "we the people." >> you cosign a letter about the anti-torture was a blower who spoke out against torture because he believed it violated his oath and constitution. he never tortured anyone, yet he is the only individual prosecuted related to the torture program in the past decade. this is january 21, the day of 's second obama is not ratione inauguration. he will have to serve 30 months in prison, john kiriakou. he worked for the cia. >> the torture is that away with it. nobody is prosecuting them. they're violating the army field manual, the constitution, federal statutes, international treaty. the man who pointed out, and

interrogator, the men carry up to, who pointed out as a cia agent, this was torture and he was not going to engage in it and blew the whistle is going to jail. the justice department, mr. holder on behalf of mr. obama, had five counts against him read it dropped four counts. in return, he agreed the fifth count he would plead guilty to because he did not want to be put away for 10, 20 years. he's got five kids. he lost his job, his pension. his wife lost her job. they are in serious straits. what did the plead guilty to? that he told a reporter the name of a man he did not think was undercover. the reporter did not even report it. it was never made public until last october. so this is an example of where president obama went beyond president bush and actually has

invited more courageous federal officials for reporting crimes. some of them have been on your program. they are reporting crimes and they are law-abiding people. they're trying to hold up their oath of office, civil service oath of office. they're the ones being prosecuted. when history is written about attorney general holder, it is not in the one that is very nobbling to his pretensions. >> ralph nader, thank you for being withins. ralph nader, longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate, author of many books. his latest is "the 17 solutions: new ideas for our american future." the first family is set to come outsisw on the steps of the capital of less than an hour, and about 44 minutes, the inaugural ceremony will begin. among those who will speak,

merlee evers, the widow of medgar evers. we will talk about her, talked about the civil rights history. we will talk about the black history of the white house next, joined by professor clarence lusane was written a book by that title. we will take a walking tour of washington, d.c. who built it? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> that was ps22 chorus from staten island, new york, performing in the pre- inauguration ceremony. performing "home." they performed at the academy awards and their youtube videos have been seen by more than 50 million viewers. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are usually in new york when we broadcast, not far from staten island, but today we're broadcasting from the nation's capital. tomorrow we will be broadcasting from park city, utah, from the sundance film festival, the 10th anniversary of the sundance documentary film track. we will be joined by jeremy scahill. his film has just a bit at the film festival colorado "dirty

wars." it has created quite a buzz about the secret wars, particularly under the obama administration. we will talk about drones and targeted killings. but right now, we are in washington, d.c., the inauguration ceremony will begin in some 50 minutes. we're joined now by professor clarence lusane who is going to take us on a walking tour to washington, d.c., and through history. his book is called, "the black history of the white house." president obama made history four years ago when he became the first african-american president the history of african-americans in the white house did not begin with president obama. the first person of african descent to enter the presidential home was most likely a slave. washington, d.c. once hosted markets were human beings were sold for profit. the products of that system include some of the city's most

famous landmarks. today president obama will recite the oath of office on the steps of the building that was built at least in part by the labor of enslaved people. one of the two bibles with which he will take his oath was also used by president abraham lincoln, who signed the emancipation proclamation 150 years ago this month, declaring free the slaves in confederate states that were rebelling against the union. the racial history of d.c. and the presidency is unveiled in a book clarence lusane by clarence. let's talk about the black history of the white house. thank you for having me here. president obama said he stands on the shoulders of people who have been in the white house. president lincoln, kennedy, johnson. the asa stands on the shoulders of the black people who experienced it in the white

house. as you noted in your intro, this goes from thosroindividuals who worked to build the white house when washington, d.c., when the country first came into existence, washington dc did not exist. it literally had to be built and it took 10 years. much of that labour from clearing the land, moving the trees and rocks came from african americans and slave labor. the iconic buildings that we know, the capital, the white house, both were built not only by unskilled black labor, people who did just sort of the hard work, but still black labor like carpenters, or african- americans. the first african-american who had engaged in the president's residence whether it was the white house we know now in washington or in the residence of the president george washington when he first went to new york and then when he moved

from new york to the president's residence in philadelphia, and both of those residences, washington took a number of his slaves. black people's history relationship to where the president has lived goes all the way back to the very founding of the country. more importantly, it is back to the contradictions are around race, slavery and all of that history and the nature of the country. president obama is inviting all of that as well when he stands and is commemorated has been the first african-american president. i think for many around the country, the idea of an african- american in the white house was something new, something unknown. if you had been here in washington, d.c., you knew history in part, a lot of fun in members have worked at the white house, in some instances, for generations. >> talk about the title and the title photograph of this book. >> the photograph comes from the

late 1800's. taken by very famous photographer johnson who took pictures of everyone from booker t. washington to the president. it is a picture of the easter egg hunt that took place on the grounds of the white house in 1897. the backdrop to that had been up until summer in the 1880's or 89's, the easter egg hunt had been on capitol hill. it pretty much had been open, but congress members were complaining children were tearing up the lawn. so they moved it to the white house. by the time this picture was taken in the late 1987 -- 1897, it was ... in washington, d.c. that was not segregated. the only place to that black children and want to a plan togeth. this happens after 1896 classes

to be ferguson decision which after the end of reconstruction, the institution of segregation and black coats, it said the loan nationally to allow segregation to exist pretty much of what up until the mid 1960's. it is really significant that we were able to find this picture because it's really kind of captures how the white house sometimes could be the only place where there could be some degree of integration, but in other times, it also reflected segregation in the country. >> clarence lusane, your book is called, "the black history of the white house." it opens with the statement "more than one in four u.s. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery." more than one in four.

>> one-quarter of the president's in the u.s. essentially 12 of the first 16 so presidents, not only owned slaves, but many had slaves in the white house. this was not a history we were taught. in fact, not a history that is taught when we think about the history of the united states and presidents. this is critical because it explains why president after president after president all the way up until the civil war either reified and furthered slavery or even those who said they were against slavery, did very little to address the issue. it became impossible for slavery to end until the country reached the point where civil war recognize the only with the

the country could go forward, the only way the union could exist was that slavery had to end. >> if you ask most people by president lincoln, won the civil war happen, there was said because president lincoln wanted to end slavery. >> and that simply was not the deal. i would argue president lincoln devolved. he started off anti-slavery, but was not crummel abolition. he ended up pro abolition, but not necessarily pro-the quality. that transition was never completed if you look back at his words and actions in any given ways. i think a lot of that is what is missing from the film "lincoln." >> let's go to a clip of that film "lincoln," directed by steven spielberg, about president abraham lincoln. let me say again, president obama will be putting his hand on two bibles, one is the bubble

of dr. martin luther king, his traveling bible, and one is the bible of president lincoln. in this clip, you first hear abraham lincoln, played by daniel day lewis, followed by the voices of thaddeus stevens -- the congress member from pennsylvania -- and mary todd lincoln, the first lady. >> step down upon the world's stage now critics the fate of human dignity and our hands. >> blood has been spilt to afford as this moment critics now, now, now. >> abraham lincoln has asked us to work with him to accomplish the death of slavery. >> no one has ever been loved so much by the people. don't ways that power. >> "lincoln." clarence lusane? >> an number of important historians have pointed out the

passage of the 13th amendment did not just happen to the nationalization and the efforts of lincoln, it also happened as a result of what was happening below, the rebellions that happened, the organizing that african-americans, the engagement of free blacks in the lobbying process, the meetings that took place literally around the country pushing and advocating for the 13th amendment. all of that is left -- missing from the film. what comes across is the modern notion that policy is made by negotiations between democrats and republicans and between the white house and the capital. but in fact, it really is, and what happened around the 13th amendment, it really was a process of the activism on the part of people who really wanted slavery to end, including free

blacks, as african-americans who were still enslaved, and radical republicans, those who were part of the other side of lincoln who was really pushing for the end of slavery even before the civil war started. >> i want to play a clip of actress gloria reuben who plays a real historical figure named elizabeth keckley in the film "lincoln." let's hear a clip of reuben describing her character and then i want ask you to talk about elizabeth keckley and her significance. >> i played an extraordinary woman named elizabeth keckley. she was a woman who was born into slavery and at the age of 39, she ended up buying her own freedom for $1,200. she was highly gifted in the art and craft of dressmaking, since a young girl. she learned as a young grow from

her mother. eventually, into that building her own clientele of high society women and political lives in st. louis before she moved to washington, d.c., the friends mary todd lincoln the first day of the first inauguration and is hired by mary todd lincoln to be her personal seamstress. and there's something about the way this woman, from what i had read, in a short amount i had read about her, her incredible fortitude and strength and the way she was able to survive extraordinary things that really i felt connected to emotionally. >> that was gloria reuben talking about elizabeth keckley. talk about elizabeth keckley to

talk about in the book, clarence lusane, in "the black history of the white house." >> what was disturbing to me about "lincoln" is that elizabeth keckley, the butler and the woman associated with bette stephens, their histories were really not there. in some ways, it was the story -- many people who i've spoken to that watched the film came out of the film believing that elizabeth keckley was a maid in the white house. gloria reuben points out, she was an independent businesswoman who had a very clients relationship with me mary lincoln. what is really missing that is important is that elizabeth keckley was also an activist. when the civil war started, people began to leave the

plantations and after lincoln is use the emancipation proclamation in 1863, people begin to leave in the tens of thousands and not knowing where to go, they came to washington, d.c. they flooded into the city. they created camps. they were called contraband because there been referred to as property. but these were people who came that had virtually the clothes on their back. there were issues of feeding them, education, sanitation elizabeth keckley organized the first association of these individuals to make sure they were able to be taken care of. indeed, she travel not only around the u.s., but she even went to europe. we're talking tens of thousands of people or howard university is located here in washington, was one of the major contraband cans was something like 5000 people. she was not just a

businesswoman, as someone who was actively engaged in the issues of for time. for example, she was critical in between sojourner truth and president lincoln meetings. she had links with many of the activists from frederick douglass -- elizabeth keckley newt many individuals. in her own right, she was a very activist person. >> talk about who's sojourner truth was in her meeting with lincoln. i should say, as we're talking right now, the first lady michelle obama, is making her way to the entrance of the west front of the capital, also looking at sunny sotomayor who is about to take her seat among the supreme court justices -- son is sotomayor who is about

to takers among the supreme court justices. i c clarence thomas as well. we're having this conversation about 35 minutes before the inauguration ceremonies began. michelle obama herself is a descendant of slaves from the carolinas. >> that is right. sojourner truth was a black woman activist in the 1840's, 1850's and going forward. he raised issues not only about racism and slavery, but also about the rights of women. in particular, how african- american women were treated by the feminist movement in that time. she was a very important character. lincoln's white house was significant because it was the first time of any president of 15 presidents who came before lincoln would not meet with african-american leaders. this simply did not care what

african-americans fought with the they were freed african- americans or enslaved. in 1862, lincoln met with a group of african-americans business leaders and began meeting with peoplee frederick douglass and other african-american leaders who played a major role in changing lincoln's view to begin to see the end of slavery really was the only recourse to end the civil war, and it was the right thing to do for the country. so elizabeth keckley was in the pantheon of these people who are active in the period and tried to push the country, in particular, lincoln. she became very close with mary lincoln. in the film "lincoln" there's a point where she talks about losing her son during the war. the background to that is a she basically was raped when she was younger i white man and had a child, a son, who was of mixed race. when the war broke out, her son

joined the military. at that point, african-americans were not allowed, so he entered the military passing as white. he was killed and one of the early battles that to place in 1861. so she lost her only child. the lincolns lost one of their children, a young son, while they were in the white house. he contracted a fever and ended up passing away. elizabeth keckley was with mary lincoln through all of the trauma addressing her son's death. she helped to bathe his body, help with the funeral. they became very close. they really have a friendship there really was the defining nature of their relationship, not as we see in the film too much, her caring mary lincoln's code ending in the background she really was a remarkable individual. >> thank you for being with us. i want to ask you, clarence lusane, if you'll stay with us

as we move into this next two- hour chunk of "democracy now!" we will be broadcasting the inauguration ceremony. we will also be talking about myrlie evers and the significance of the education she will give an her place in history, her place as well as her slain husband, medgar evers. clarence lusane is the author of, "the black history of the white house." he is a professor and program director for the comparative and regional studies program at american university here in washington, d.c. we are doing a five-hour special inauguration broadcast today. we're going to go to a musical break and then we will resume at 11:00 eastern standard time. we urge you to tell your friends, to tweet the show to

let us know you are listening or you are watching "democracy now!" democracynow.org has the transcript as well as all the supporting information around this five-hour broadcast. "democracy now!" is produced by some wonderful people. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we are doing a many-hour special today on this inauguration. >> hi, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> four years after making

history by becoming the first african-american president, barack obama kicks off his second term on martin luther king day. up to 800,000 people are gathering on the national mall. we will air the entire ceremony live, including the indication of myrlie evers-williams, the widow of medgar evers, and president obama's entire speech. all that and more, coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a teenage gunman is in custody after allegedly killing five members of his family in new mexico saturday night. police say 15-year-old killed his parents and three siblings, each suffering multiple gunshot wounds. the suspect was armed with several weapons, including an assault rifle. it was the deadliest mass shooting in the nation since

the newtown massacre a month ago. the shooting comes on the same day that gun opponents rallied around the country. demonstrations in pennsylvania and ohio, gun owners pilloried calls for stricter gun control. >> no law put on law abiding citizens has ever deterred crime. they are going to take my gun so i can get shot. >> my thought is, it is how the left-wing liberal idiots and all of them, leave our guns alone. we are not hurting anything. it is the criminals. >> the pro-gun rallies also coincided with a series of other shows. and number of people were injured when firearms accidentally went off. one gun owner accidentally shot himself in indianapolis. in ohio, a gun show attendee was injured by a stray bullet.

president obama is set to publicly take the oath of office today at his second term inauguration in washington. obama gathered with his family on sunday in the blue room of the white house to privately recite the 35-word oath read to him by supreme court chief justice john roberts. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states, so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> thank you, so much. >> three groups have organized to protest president obama along

the inauguration parade route. obama thanked supporters at an inaugural celebration at the national building museum. at least that which where people have been killed in a u.s. drone strike inside yemen. the yemeni government says the attack killed four militants but the claim has not been independently verified. the attack comes one day after locals were angered over a drone attack blocking the main road linking the targeted town with the capital of san'a. the administration had decided to exclude cia drone strikes in pakistan from legal oversight in targeted killings overseas. "the washington port" reports that john brennan has signed off on a plan to exempt the drone attacks in pakistan from the list of operations that would be covered under newly enacted rules. and is covered in the so-called

playbook include the process for adding names to kill lists, principles for killing u.s. citizens abroad, and the command chain for authorizing cia or military strikes outside war zones. the exemption of drone strikes in pakistan would allow the cia to continue carrying them out without a legal framework for up to two years. the hostage standoff in nigeria has ended in the deaths of dozens of people, including 48 of the captured workers. forces have recovered ater least 25 bodies after storming the militant-held them complex -- cass complex on saturday, bringing the confirmed death toll to at least 80. witnesses say the hostages were brutally executed. the poll could have been worse as hundreds of hostages had earlier managed to escape. a well-known islamist fighters has claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of al

qaeda. the militants who took the complex claimed they were doing so to seek an end to the french military intervention in neighboring mali. the french army, meanwhile, continues to advance in northern mali in its effort to wrest control from rebel. french forces runner today entered a key town after a week of air strikes. the rebels have flee the town after vowing a stiff resistance. a spokesperson for the un refugee agency says that the fighting threatens to this place up to 700,000 people. >> we believe there could be in the near a future up to 300,000 people additionally displaced inside mali, and zero or 4000 addition the displaced in neighboring countries. many fear the strict application of sharia law. the report having witnessed executions, amputations, and

they say also large amounts of money are being offered to civilians to fight against the mountain army and its supporters. disturbingly also, we are hearing accounts -- >> tortures of prisoners in afghanistan is not only continuing but could be on the rise. investigators have uncovered ongoing abuses in afghan prisons, including the beating of detainees with cables, handing them by their wrists. more than half of prisoners interviewed said they had been tortured, happened -- higher than the previous rate of 24% in 2011. the report also cites an unconfirmed afghan official that confirms some are being held at detention sites to avoid

scrutiny. u.s. military has forcibly removed another palestinian protest encampment in the path of the expanding settlement in the occupied west bank. palestinian residents had set up three tent and a mobil building on friday to stop israel from seizing parts of their land. the demonstrators named their sight "the gate of dignity." after receiving evacuation demands, and a tour of the order of the israeli military in front of the soldiers. the camp was raided and dismantled earlier today. another palestinian containment in the west bank, arabic for "gate of the sun" was removed earlier this month. the interior department has delayed a regulation that would require the disclosure of chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing. it is the second time the rule's

implementation has been delayed since it was proposed in may. a federal grand jury has indicted a former new orleans mayor ray nagin for a major corruption scheme including allegations of bribery, money laundering, wire fraud, and filing false tax returns. prosecutors say he received cash and gifts from city contractors, steered a home depot contract to his home business, and helped quash a community benefits agreement that would have required home depot to hire local residents at above market rates. nagin was apparently in talks for a plea bargain when the charges were unveiled. here in washington, d.c., lupe fiasco was kicked off the stage at an inauguration performance after voicing criticism of president obama. fiasco recited lyrics critical of u.s. drone strikes and the israeli invasion of gaza and shared with the audience that he

did not vote for obama in the election. he was ushered off the stage before he could finish his performance, but organizers of the event deny he was centered. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from washington, d.c. today where president barack obama is set to publicly take the oath of office for his second term. obama's second inauguration comes 50 years after the assassination of civil rights leader medgar evers outside of his home in jackson, mississippi. he was 37 years old. today, his widow, myrlie evers- williams will deliver the invocation at president obama's inauguration. she will become the first woman and someone other than clergy to say the prayer the proceeds the ceremony oath of office. medgar evers was killed at the close of an important day in the

civil-rights movement. earlier that day, alabama segregationist gov. george wallace stood on the steps of the university's all white universe and tried to block the admission of two students. evers was killed by a white supremacist. he was tried twice for the murder. both times and in this trial because the all-white juries could not reach a verdict. he was later convicted of murder 30 years afterwards. member evers' became an naacp beater in 1954 after the all- when university of mississippi rejected his law school applications. he fought segregation of schools and public places and struggle to increase black voter registration, led business boycott, brought attention to the murders and lynchings like the slaying of an until. -- emmett till. in a few minutes, we will be broadcasting president obama's inauguration, including myrlie evers-williams' invocation.

first, i want to turn to a segment we did five years ago marking the 45th anniversary of the assassination of medgar evers. myrlie evers-williams was with us on the show. >> this demonstration will continue. we will have a mass meeting tonight and after the meeting we will be demonstrating further tomorrow. this will only give us an impetus to move ahead, rather than slow down. we intend to completely eradicate jim crow, here in jackson, mississippi. >> member evers organizes the boycott in downtown jackson, mississippi for the separatist group of white separatist council. >> do not shop for anything on capitol street. let's let the merchants feel e economic pinch. let me say this to you. i had one merchant call me and he said, i want you to know, i

have talked to my national office today, and they want me to tell you that we do not need nigger business. these are stores that have to support the white citizens council, the council that is dedicated to keeping you and i second-class citizens. finally, ladies and gentlemen, we will be demonstrating here until freedom comes, too negro's here in jackson, mississippi. >> that was medgar evers. we are joined now on the phone by civil rights leader myrlie evers-williams. she is the widow of medgar evers, killed 45 years ago today. from 1995 until 1998, myrlie evers-williams served as the chair of the naacp. prior to that, she was the first african-american woman to be appointed to the los angeles board of public works. she has written two books. myrlie evers-williams, welcome

to democracy now!. >> good morning and thank you very much. >> very good to have you with us. your thoughts today, 45 years after the assassination of medgar? >> certainly a day that i and members of my family remember very intimately. for some reason, this 45th anniversary has been a little more difficult than the last few. perhaps it is because of what is happening in our country today, but i thank you so much for bringing to the public at least the part of the story of medgar evers. it has been very difficult to hear people talk about the civil rights movement and the leadership, as though it started in 1964, when really, indeed, it did not. i owe you a great debt of gratitude. >> the progress that you feel have made over these past 45 years, especially in places like

mississippi. i recall recently wlbt tv, which created summit, for allowing medgar evers to get his message across, was owned by african- americans for quite awhile and then recently changed hands. has there been continuing progress in mississippi, but in some ways -- or in some ways have things gone back? beeno, there havs progress on a continuous basis. and and look at the time when medgar was so prominent, immediately after his death and the changes that started to take place slowly, but they have continued to grow in all aspects of life in mississippi. that is not to say, however, that prejudice and racism does not exist, but certainly not to the degree that we remember what it was. and i think that goes for america as a whole.

certainly, things we see happening today, particularly politically, at my age, at this point, i knew it would happen, but i was not sure i would ever see it happen within my lifetime. the things that are happening today also bring up a point that medgar made, that freedom will not be free and it will be more difficult to hold onto those freedoms month they have been gained perhaps and even to achieve them in the first place. >> it is interesting to talk to you after we were speaking to a victim of the chadian dictator, talking about what justice is so important. two trials right after medgar evers was assassinated. he goes free. how did he end of being convicted 30 years later? >> that is a very long story

because i was told that nothing would ever be done. i had made a promise to medgar that if something happened to him and i was still alive, i would dedicate my life to see that justice will prevail. it took 30-plus years for that to happen. as i heard earlier, two years with a hung jury, and then a third trial that took place, which i was not sure what would happen, but i think the time that had passed helped to make people realize it was something that citizens should do, stand up and fight for equality. well, the man was convicted, and he was placed in jail. one of the things that i enjoyed -- if i can call it that -- is that his jail cell had the view

of the new post office, which was named for medgar there. it did something else, too. after the trial there have been at least 18 to 21 civil rights trials that have been held. i believe out of the number, there have been 18 convictions. in a sense, it has been a cleansing of the south, of america, of some of those horrible thing that took place. once again, medgar was in the forefront of it, with my pushing. i just want so badly for his torians and the younger generations to know about medgar and the role he played. as i mentioned earlier, it is almost devastating to see and hear things mentioned of the civil rights movement and give the appearance that nothing

happened until 1964. >> myrlie evers-williams, we will link on our website to the video and photographs that we have of the historical record, for those who did not get to see it on our broadcast. i thank you for taking the time to spend with us today. >> i do want to add there is a third book, the autobiography of medgar evers, which is about three years old, which was published by basic books. that gives in debt site into his work and feelings. >> that was myrlie evers- williams. she will be the first woman and non-clergy to give the invocation at today's inauguration ceremony. we spoke to her five years ago. the inauguration ceremony will be opened at 11:30 eastern

standard time, in just about 10 minutes, with opening remarks from senator charles schumer. at 11:35 myrlie evers-williams will give the indication. then the vice presidential oath will be administered by justice sotomayor. at noon, the inaugural address and the inaugural poem by richard blanco. at 12:30, the benediction. as we speak, president obama is about to step outside onto the west front of the capital. we are joined by clarence lusane, author of "the black history of the white house." professor at american university here in washington, d.c., professor of international relations. this book goes beyond the white house. it also talks about the capital, talks about those who

built these institutions, physically. many of them enslaved. >> this is an important history. in fact, the capitol has now demolished the slave labor that went into building that building. there are two plaques, one in the main hallway, one on the house side. there is nothing in the white house that a knowledge as that. if you go on a tour, now self- guided, you can go through the blue room, the other important rooms in the white house, but there is nothing that tells you where the slave quarters were, where people lived in the basement, for example, during the period of slavery. so there is the need for the white house to also commemorate and acknowledge the importance of that history.

>> it is amazing to see the hundreds of thousands of people on the moment now. the largest event in washington, d.c. history was four years ago, the inauguration. right now, four years later, it is not as expected to be quite as large, maybe about 800,000, and it is very cold outside. a testament to the people that have come out. a lot of the media is talking about the first lady, michelle obama's hairstyle, her clothes, who made them. i would like to ask you about her history. in fact, the last chapter of your book goes right to the obama white house, the latest political milestone, the obama's in the white house, with michelle obama's story. >> each chapter opened with a story of an individual that captures each historical moment.

the last chapter looks at michelle obama. it looks at her history as far as it has been traced back. as we know, she had an ancestor, a young girl, who was enslaved in the 1840's or so. she was eventually sold, sent deeper into the south, and that particular line of michelle obama's began to emerge and eventually ends up with her family being in illinois, chicago, michelle and her brother are born in the 1960's. her history is kind of critical as well because she is someone who has embodied all of the experiences, all of the ways in which african-americans have struggled for inclusion. >> as you speak, we are bringing up the sounds of people cheering as president obama has made his public appearance and is shaking

hands with the people in the stands right now. with michelle obama, malia, sasha, michelle obama's mother, live with them in the white house. >> 800,000 is pretty good, more and then came out for ronald reagan, more than george w. bush. >> and it is the second inauguration, still larger than any other inauguration, except for his first. >> even with some of the disappointments, and the unfilled expectations, there is still a resonance, particularly with african-americans, the importance and significance of having barack obama as president. people are still coming out and supporting. we saw that last year in the election. 95% of african-americans voted for him. there is still a lot there attached to the meaning of

having a first african-american becoming president of the united states. >> when you say you wish it would have been eight knowledge, the history of the building of this city, the nation's capital, washington, d.c., explain. >> psychologists tell us that acknowledging pain and suffering is a way to get past the trauma. until the country related knowledge as that this is part of the history -- we have had good parts of history but we have also had bad, and we should not pretend that it does not exist. the white house is iconic to the world. there were almost 2 million people that camet to the inaugural last year, but there were millions more around the world who were watching, perhaps as much as a billion people, from japan, to england, to germany, south africa, brazil, around the world, because people

understand the long journey that has been there for african- americans, similar to south africa, for example, where many of us never expected nelson mandela to get out of jail. not only did he get out of jail, he became president. that is somewhat analogous to what many feel about president obama, but not in ways that are important, has been recognized. one way to do that would be for the white house to say that we understand that this building has represented not only our country but also has represented history and has embodied all the contents of that history, including slavery. >> can you talk about the issue of race in the race? last time and this past time? >> race has certainly been a variable. because president obama won in 2008 and 2012 --

>> i think the inauguration ceremony is beginning a bit early. charles schumer has taken the microphone and is beginning the ceremony. >> and to all that are watching, welcome to the capital and to the celebration of our great democracy. [applause] this is the 57 inauguration of an american president, and no matter how many times one witnesses this event, its simplicity, it's in a nazi -- its innate majesty, and most sacred of all, that most sacred of power, from we the people to our trust a leader never fails to make one's heart beat faster as it will today with the inauguration of president barack h. obama. [applause]

now we know we would not be here today were it not for those who stand guard around the world to preserve our freedom. to those in our armed forces, we offer are infinite thanks, for your bravery, your honor, your sacrifice. [applause] this democracy of ours was forged by intellect and argument, by activism and the blood, and above all, from john adams, to elizabeth cady stanton, to martin luther king, by a stubborn adherence to the notion and we are all created equal and that we all deserve nothing less than a great republic were the of our consent.

the theme of this year's inaugural is faith in america's future. the perfect embodiment of this unshakeable confidence in the ongoing success of our collective journey is an event from our past. i speak of the improbable completion of the capitol dome, capping it with the statue of freedom, which occurred 150 years ago, in 1863. when abraham lincoln took office two years earlier, and the dome was an eyesore. conventional wisdom was that it should be left unfinished intone the war ended, given the travails and financial needs of the times. but to president lincoln, the half-finished don't symbolize the half finished nation. lincoln said, if people see the capital going on, it is a sign that we intend union shall go on. and so, despite the conflict

which engulfed the nation and surrounded the city, the dome continue to rise. on december 2, 1863, the statue of freedom, a woman, was placed atop the dome, where she still stands today. in a sublime irony, it was a former slave, now free american, philip reed, who help to cast a bronze statue. now, our present times are not as perilous or despairing as they were in 1863, but in 2013, far too many doubt the future of this great nation, and our ability to tackle our own era's half-finished domes. today's problems are intractable, they say, the times are so complex, the differences in countries are so deep, we will never overcome them. when talks might these produce anxiety, fear, and even despair,

we do was to remember that americans have always been, and still are, a practical, optimistic, problem-solving people, and that as our history shows no matter how steep climb, how difficult the problem, how half-finished the task, america always rises to the occasion. america prevails and america prosperous. [applause] and those who bet against this country have inevitably been on the wrong side of history. so it is a good moment to gaze upward and behold the statue of freedom at the top of the capitol dome. it is a good moment to gain strength and courage and humility from those who are determined to complete the half- finished dome. it is a good moment to rejoiced

today at this 57 presidential inaugural ceremony, and it is the perfect moment to renew our collective faith in the future of america. [applause] thank you, and god bless the united states. in that spirit of faith, i would now like to introduce civil- rights leaders myrlie evers- williams who has committed her life to extending the new promise of our nation's founding principles to all americans. mrs. evers will lead us in the invocation. [applause]

>> america, we are here, our nation's capital, on this date january 21, 2013. the inauguration of our 45th president, barack obama. we come at this time to ask blessings upon our leaders. the president, vice-president, members of congress, all elected and appointed officials of the united states of america , we are here to ask blessings upon our armed forces, blessings upon all who contribute to the essence of the american spirit, the american dream.

the opportunity to become whatever our mankind, womankind allows us to be. this is the promise of america. as we sing the words of belief, this is my country, let us act upon the meaning that everyone is included. maybe inherent dignity and in alienable rights of every woman, man, boy, and girl be honored. may all your people, especially the least of these, flourish in our blessed nation. 150 years after the emancipation proclamation and 50 years after the march on washington, we celebrate the spirit of our ancestors, which has allowed us to move from a nation of on

board hopes and a history of disenchants fries -- disenchant prized -- disenfranchised votes to a more perfect union. almighty, where our past is blanketed by throngs of repression and riddled by pangs of despair, we ask for your guidance toward the light of deliverance, and that the vision of those that came before us and dreamed of this day, that we recognize that their visions still inspire us. they are a great cloud of witnesses, unseen by the naked eye, but all around us, thankful that their living was not in vain.

for every mountain, you gave us the strength to climb. your grace is pleaded to continue that climb, for america, and the world. we now stand beneath the shadow of the nation's capital, whose golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. approximately four miles from where we are assembled, and the hallowed remains of men and women rest in arlington cemetery. they who believed, fought, and died for this country. made their spirit in pews our being to work together with the respect, enabling us to continue to build this nation, and in so

doing, we send a message to the world that we are strong, fierce in our strength, and ever-vigilant in our pursuit of freedom. we ask that you grant our president the will to act courageously but cautiously when confronted with danger, and to act prudently but deliberately when challenged by adversity. please continue to test his efforts, to lead by example in consideration and favor of the diversity of our people. bless our families all across this nation. we thank you for this opportunity of prayer, to strengthen us. for the journey through the days that lie ahead.

we invoke the prayers of our grandmothers who taught us to pray, god, make me a blessing. let their spirit guide us as we claim the spirit of old. there is something within me that holds the reins. there is something within me then vanishes pain. there is something within me i cannot explain. but all i know, america, there is something within. there is something within. in jesus' name, in the name of all who are wholly and right, we pray, amen. [applause]

>> i am pleased to introduce the award winning tabernacle choir, the brooklyn tabernacle choir, to sing "battle hymn of the republica." [♪]

democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. email your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693, new york, ny 10013. from pacifica, this is democracy now! this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. >> a mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord hath he is trampling of the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword his truth is marching on

glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, paula lea his truth is marching on his truth is marching on >> in the beauty of the lilies christ was born across the sea with a glory in his bosom that

transfigures you and me as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free while god is marching on >> glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah our god is marching on marching on

glory, glory, hallelujah glory, glory, hallelujah his truth is marching on marching on ♪ [applause]

>> please join me in welcoming my colleague and my friend, the senator from tennessee, the honorable lamar alexander. [applause] >> mr. president, mr. vice president, ladies and gentlemen , the late alex haley, the ots," lived hise life by these five words appeared find the good and praise it. today we celebrate the american tradition of transferring are reaffirming the immense power in the inauguration of the president of the united states. we do this in a peaceful,

orderly way. there is no mom, iscoup, -- no mob, no coup, no interruption. this is a moment that we watch. a moment that we will remember. it is a moment that is our most conspicuous and ignoring -- enduring symbol of american democracy. how remarkable that this has survived for so long, in such a complex country, when so much power is at stake, this freedom to vote for rn leaders and the restraint to respect the results. last year, at mount vernon, a tour guide told me that our first president, george washington, once posed this question -- what is most important, washington asked, of

this great experiment, the united states? and then washington answered his own question in this way. not the election of the first president, but the election of its second president, the peaceful transfer of power is what will separate our country from every other country in the world. so, today, we celebrate the 57th inauguration of the american president find the good and praised it. now, it is my honor -- [applause] it is my honor to introduce the associate justice of the supreme court, sonia sotomayor, for the purpose of the minister in the oath of office to the vice president. will everyone please stand?

>> mr. vice-president, please raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> i, and joseph r. biden, engineer do solemnly swear, that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that i will bear allegiance and true faith to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the

office on which i am about to enter, so help me god. >> congratulations. [applause] ♪ >> it is my pleasure to introduce renowned musical artist james taylor.

[applause] ♪ 0, a beautiful, for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountains majesty of the of the frigid plane -- fruited plain america, america thee and his grace on

crown thy good with brotherhood , from sea to shining sea from sea to shining sea ♪ [applause] >> it is my honor to present the chief justice of the united states, john g. roberts jr., who will administer the presidential oath of office.

everyone please rise. [applause] >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states, so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. [no audio[applause] ♪

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, it is

my great privilege and distinct honor to introduce the 44th president of the united states arack h. obama. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. >> obama! obama! >> thank you. thank you so much. vice-president biden, mr. chief justice, members of the united

states congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens, each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our constitution. we affirm the promise of our democracy. we recall that what binds this nation together is not the color of our skin, or the tenants of our fate, or the origins of our names. what makes us exceptional, what makes us american, is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago. we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are

created equal. [applause] that they are in doubt by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. today, we continue a never ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. for history tells us, while these truths may be self evident, they have never been self-executed. while freedom is a gift from god, it must be secured by his people, here on earth. the patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of

a king with the privileges of a few, or the rule of a mob. they gave to us a republic, a government of and by, and for people, and trusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. more than 200 years we have. by drawn -- blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, -- we made ourselves a new and down to move forward together. together, we determine a modern economy requires railroads, highways to speak travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers. together, we discover that a free market only thrives when

there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. together, we resolve that a great nation must careful the vulnerable and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune. through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all of society's ills can be cured through government alone. our celebration of initiative and enterprise are -- our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character. we have always understood, when times change, so must we. fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges. preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires

collective action. for the american people can no more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone and american soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets or malicious. no single person can train all the math and science teachers we will need to equip our children for the future. or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people. [applause] this generation of americans have been tested by crises that steal our results improved our resilience. a decade of war is now ending. [applause]

an economic recovery has begun. america's possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world demands. youth, drive, diversity, openness. and and this capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. my fellow americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it, as long as we seize it together. [applause] for we, the people, understand our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. [applause] we believe that america's prosperity must rest upon the

broad shoulders of a rising middle-class. we know that america thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work. when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. we are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest barbados she has the same chance to succeed as anyone else [applause] we understand our programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. while the means will change, our purpose indoors, our nation that

rewards the determination of every single american, that is what this moment requires. that is what will give real meaning to our creed. we, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. we must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. but we reject the belief that america must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build this feature. [applause] for we remember the lessons of our past when twilight years were spent in poverty and

parents of a job disability had no word turn. we do not believe in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky or happiness for the few. we recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, anyone of us at any time may face a job loss or a sudden illness or homes swept away in a terrible storm. the commitments we make to each other through medicare and medicaid and social security, these things do not sap our nation, they strengthened us. [applause] they do not make as a nation of takers, they freak us to take the risks that make this country great. -- they free us to take the risks that make this country great. [applause] week, the people, still believe that our obligations as

americans are not just to ourselves, but all prosperity. we will respond to the threat of climate change knowing that the failure to do so will betray our children and future generations. [applause] some may still deny the overwhelming science, but none can avoid the devastating raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. the path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult, but america cannot resist this transition. we must lead it. we cannot cede to other nations, the technology that will power and industry. we must claim its promise. that is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure.

our forests and waterways, our croplands and snowcapped peaks. that is how we will preserve our planet's, command it to our care by god. that is what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared. we, the people still believe that in during security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. [applause] our brave men and women in uniform tempered by the flames of battle are unmatched in skill and courage. [applause] our citizens feared by the memories of those lost know too well the price that's paid for liberty. the knowledge of their sacrifice

will keep us forever village and -- vigilant against those who will do us harm. but we are heirs who want the peace, and not just the war. we must carry those lessons into this time as well. we will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and the rule of law. we will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully, not because we are not even about the dangers we face, but because engagement, more durable lift suspicion and fear. [applause] america will remain the anchor a strong alliances and every corner of the globe, and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage a crisis abroad for the one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. we will support democracy from

asia to africa, from the americas to the middle east because our interest in our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. and we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice not out there charity, but because he's in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that are common creed describes rid of tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and justice. we, the people, declared today that the most evident of truths that all of us are created equal is a star that still guides us, just as excited our forebears' through seneca falls and selma and stone wall, just as excited all of those men and women son and grandson who left

footprints along this great mall to hear a preachers say that we cannot walk alone, to hear a keen proclaim our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on earth. [applause] it is our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. for our journey is not complete until our wives, mothers, daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. [applause] our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. [applause] for if we're truly critical, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well -- truly created equal, then surely the level, to one

another must people as well. until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote [applause] our journey is not complete until we find a better to walk and the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see america as a land of opportunity, until bright, young students and engineers are enlisted our work force instead of expelled from our country. [applause] our journey is not complete until all of our children from the streets of detroit to the hills of appalachia to the quiet lands of newtown, know that their care for and cherished and always safe from harm. tasked,our generation's to make these rights, these values of life and liberty and

pursuit of happiness real for every american. being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. it does not mean we all the fine liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness. progress does not compel us to settle centuries long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time. [applause] for now, decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. we cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.

[applause] we must act. we must act knowing that our work will be in perfect. we must act knowing that today's victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to a chance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare philadelphia hall. my fellow americans, the oath i have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who served in this capital, was an oath to god and country. not party or faction. and we must faithfully execute that pledge during our service. but the words i spoke today are

not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or immigrant realizes her dream. my oath is not so different from the pledge we homage to the flag that waves above and fills our hearts with pride. they are the words of citizens, and represent our greatest hope. uni as citizens have the power to set this country's course. you and i as citizens have the obligation to shape the debate of our time not only with the votes we cast but the voices we lived in defense of our most ancient values and injuring ideals. [applause] but as each and race with solemn duty and awesome joy with is our lasting birthright. with common effort and common purpose, with passion and

dedication let us answer the call of history and theory into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom. thank you. god bless you. may he for ever bless these united states of america. [applause] >> president obama giving his second inaugural address. on the west side of the capital. waving to the hundreds of thousands of people who have turned out, shaking vice- president obama -- vice president biden's hand, senator charles schumer's hand, kissing his wife michelle obama and his daughters and his mother-in-law.

>> at this time, please to me in welcoming kelly clarkson accompanied by the united states marine band. >> ♪my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,

of thee i sing. land where my fathers died! land of the pilgrim's pride! from every mountain side, let freedom ring! let music swell the beach

and ring from all the trees sweet freedom songs. let mortal times await let all that repartee that rocks their silence break, the sound prolong. my father god to the master of liberty to thee we sing long may our land be bright

with freedom's holy light protect us by thy might great god, our king! ♪ [applause] >> wow! [laughter] our next distinguished guest is the poet richard who will share with us words he has composed

for this occasion. [applause] >> mr. president, mr. vice president, america one today, one sun rose on us today kindles over our shores, peeking over the snow peas, greeting the faces of the great lakes spreading a simple truth across the great plains and charging across the rockies one light walking up rooftops

under each one, a story told by our silence gestures, moving across windows my face, your face, millions of faces in mornings mirrors, each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day the pencilled yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights, fruit stands, apples, lines and oranges. like rainbows begging our praise silver trucks' heavy with oil or paper, bricks or milk, teaming over highways alongside us on our way to clean tables, read letters, or save lives, to teach geometry or ring of groceries as

my mother did for 20 years so i could write this column for all of us today all of us as vital as the one light we move through, the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day, equations to solve, history to question or adams imagined, the "i have a dream" we all keep dreaming, the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that will not explain the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today and forever many prayers, but one might breathing colored stained-glass windows, life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth on to the steps of our museums and park

benches as mothers watched children sliding into the day one ground, our ground, reaching as to every stalk of corn, every head of wheat sewn by sweat and hands, hands clean coal or planting windmills in deserts' and hilltops that keep us warm hands digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands as one is my father's cutting sugar cane so my brother and i could have books and shoes ,he dust of farms and deserts' cities and planes, mangled by one wind, our breath

breathe honking cabs, buses, the symphony of footsteps, guitars and screeching subways. the unexpected songbird on your clothes line. hear, squeaky playground swings trains whistlings with whispers across cafe tables, hear the doors we open each day for each other saying, "hello, shalom, howdy, namaste or buenos dias, in the language by mother taught me, and every language, spoken into one wind, caring our lives without prejudice as these words break from my lips one sky since the appellations claimed their majesty and the

mississippi in colorado work their way to the sea thank the work of our hands weaving stealing to bridges, finishing one more report for the boss on time, stitching another wound or uniform the first brush stroke and a portrait or the last floor of the freedom tower jutting into the sky that yields to our resilience one sky toward which we sometimes lift our eyes, tired from work sundays guessing from the weather of our lives some days giving thanks for a love that lets you backed sometimes praising the mother who knew how to give or for giving a father who could not give what you wanted we head home through the nicolás

of rain or weight of snow on the plum -- of dusk, but always, always home always under one sky, o sky and always one moon, like a silent drummed have begun every rooftop and every window of one country, all of us facing the stars hope, a new constellation, waiting for us to map it. waiting for us to name it together. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, it is now my privilege to enter this rev. dr. luis leon to deliver the benediction. >> let us pray. gracious and eternal god, as we conclude the second inauguration of president obama, we ask for your blessings as we seek to become in the words of martin luther king, citizens of a beloved community, letting the and letting our neighbors as ourselves. we pray that you will cost us

with your continued presence because without it, hatred and arrogance will infect our hearts. but with your blessing, we know that we can break down the walls that separate us. we pray for your blessing today because without it, mistrust, prejudice, and rancor will rule our hearts. but with the blessing of your presence, we know that we can renew the ties of beach or regard which can best form our civic life. we pray for your blessing because without it, suspicion, despair, and fear of those different from us will be our role of light. but with your blessing, we can see each other created in your image, a unit of god's grace unprecedented, a reputable and irreplaceable.

we pray for your blessing because without it, we will see only what the eye can see, but with the blessing of your blessing, we will see that we are created in your image whether brown, black or white, male or female, first generation immigrants american or daughter of the american revolution, gay or straight, rich or poor. we pray for your blessing because without it, we will only see scarcity in the midst of abundance. but with your blessing, we will recognize the abundance of the gifts of this good land with which you have endowed this nation. we pray for your blessing. bless all of us privileged to be citizens and residents of this nation with the spirit of gratitude and humility that we

may become a blessing among the nations of this world. we pray that you will showered with your life giving spirit the elected leaders of this land, especially barack obama our president and joe biden our vice-president. fill them with truth and righteousness that they may serve the station ably and be glad to do your will. endow their hearts with wisdom and forbearance so that peace may prevail with righteousness, justice with order, so that men and women throughout this nation can find with one another the fulfillment of our humanity. we pray that the president, vice-president, and all the political authority will remember the words of the profits micah, " what does the

lord requird you question to do justice, to love kind is and always walk humbly with god." senior president [speaking spanish} may god bless you all your days. all this we pray in their most holy name. amen. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the singing of our national anthem by award winning artist, beyoncé, accompanied by the u.s. marine band. following the national anthem, please remain at your place while the presidential party exits the platform.

oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and

the home of the brave? ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ >> and that concludes the second

inauguration of the 44th president of the united states. president barack obama. as hundreds of thousands of people had gathered in the nation's capital for the second largest inauguration in history, the first in the first inauguration of president obama in 2009. i am amy goodman, host of "democracy now!" as we conclude in this last half-hour our five-hour special on this inauguration day, a freezing cold day in washington, though not quite as cold as four years ago when it was more than were close to 2 million people came out. we are joined by clarence lusane, professor of international relations at american university, and we're joined by medea benjamin who has come from the streets of washington, d.c. there were small protests today.

medea benjamin is co-founder of the peace group codepink. the ceremony included the first ever invocation by a layperson and a woman, myrlie evers, the widow of medgar evers. also, the first openly gay clergy to give the benediction, rather, the first openly gay poet, the first openly gay inaugural poet, richard blanco, to read his original poem for this inauguration day. dr. luis leon, the episcopal priest to deliver the closing prayer, interestingly, the presidential inaugural committee had invited him to deliver this benediction after the original choice, pastor gibreel of the

passions of the church in georgia who was initially invited to give the benediction, had to withdraw because news service he expressed anti- davies in the 1990's. there were a number of firsts today. now we want to talk about the significance of this day and what president obama had to say in his second inaugural address. clarence lusane? >> thank you. the address was about 20 minutes. it strikes me it was much more populous than his first address, the one in 2009. in his address he touched on everything from clima to jobs to security to women's rights to gay and lesbian rights. he made references to immigration, political reform. he talked about a lot of policy areas, but he did not talk about policy. and that was pretty striking.

i think it is probably also noted by everybody watching that there was no reference to gun reform or to gun control. given that more less has dominated the last month or so of his moving into a second term. but stepping back, what really strikes me is that i did not get a sense of coherence and a sense of exactly what is the big vision for the second administration. what kind -- what ties these different pieces together in terms of where the president really wants to go and how he sees a strategy for taking the country there. as journalists and scholars, we part every single word for meaning. but i think for most people who watch, they really want in essence. i knew it was difficult to get one from this speech because it seemed to just go from issue to issue, hopped from thing to

thing, then peters out at the end. >> med benjamin, you were in the streets today. not a large group of people, but a dedicated one on the school day, the ark of justice protests. >> i was glad he mentioned climate change. we know throughout the presidential race a barely came up at all until the very end. i was glad he talked about medicaid, medicare and social security, and actually talk about them as something that we must preserve for the future. that seemed shaky. i did not think the part on foreign policy had any substance to it at all. it talked about us as a nation that loves the rule of law law, yet we do so outside the rule of law. he gave the platitude that we don't need perpetual war that national security, yet we are in a state of perpetual war. i don't he mentioned the word afghanistan, which is interesting. i think if he wanted to make a

hallmark, and he could very well have said, i got this out of iraq and now getting us out of afghanistan, and something concrete to say that we're moving away from perpetual war. in the meantime, looks like we're getting more into the quagmire, not just with the current drone strikes in pakistan and somalia, but mali is very dangerous, and all of northern africa. the fact that he did not mention gun-control is astonishing. this seems where he was honest and a lot of his political capital and called for a grass- roots uprising to counter the power of the nra. yet we have the attention of the entire nation watching to not say, we need people to get behind this effort to really secure our children and our communities by getting assault weapons off our streets or something he could of said, he did not use this opportunity. i find that very disturbing in terms of how much energy is going to put into the programs that he supposedly is supporting.

>> clarence lusane? >> i think she raises an important point because he constantly said in the talks, "we're all in this together." but there is no roll call that action. there is no real sense of, what are they really going to mobilize people around? they turned the campaign into organizing for action. i think that is the name of the new non-profit they're creating. but they have already said that is one of focus on policy, not political organizing. again, he gets back to, what is this a ministration, the second administration. have as its legacy as it tries to move forward? if it is not going to call for people to mobilize around and control, which has been absorbing all of their energy leading up to this, that it really opens the door to what did they think they're going to get out of this speech, what was the purpose of the second inaugural deliver the president

gave? i'm not sure if they rushed and did it or occupied by other issues, but it strikes me, the speech is on a disappointing. it hits a number of different areas, but it does not go anywhere. it talks about he had been criticized about not mentioning poverty or the port, said that was thrown in a speech but it does not go anywhere. we have no idea if he's going proposed new programs or policies to address political reform, address issues related to poverty. on the international front as issues are emerging all over the globe, we have no sense of that or how the u.s. is relating to international institutions like the united nations request when he referred to new town, who is also referring to keeping overall young people safe. interestingly saying, our journey is not complete until we find a better way to lock in the strive hopeful immigrants who still see america as a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are listed in our work force rather

than expelled from our country, our journey is now complete until our children in the streets of detroit to the hills of appalachia to the quiet lands of newtown know that their care for, a cherished, always said from harm. interestingly, talking about young people in listed in our work force rather than expelled from our country. under president obama, more immigrants have been expelled than under any president in history, although, he did issue the kind of executive order that said some young people 30 or under could apply for a kind of reprieve for two years. many thousands of young people are now using to try to stay legally in this country. >> this is important, too. the president has said his top three priorities for this term would be done control, climate change, and immigration. again, the references to emigration are oblique. they're not very explicit.

how much is this a ministration really going to put weight behind the dream act? how much is this immigration really going to be a path for citizenship for people? versus major concessions to some of the conservative concerns around more border instances and all of that. this may not have been the place for going into that kind of policy detail. we did now with the president to be out there for six hours, but you there will be a little more coherence politically in terms of where they're going. >> a 2 hour inaugural address on a freezing cold day. speaking of gun control, just a few weeks ago when the nra broke a week of silence after the newtown mass killing in connecticut, it was you, medea

benjamin, with others in codepink who stood up at one lapierre pastas conference. i want to play a clip of that news conference. >> the creditors of the world know it and exploit it. that must change now. the truth is -- >> nra, stop killing our children. the nra is killing our children. [inaudible] end the violence. stop the killing.

>> describe what this first interruption was, then we will go to your clip. >> you hear a silence that seemed like it when on for ever. my colleague was standing there with a banner that said "nra killing our kids." i think there were so shocked we had gotten into the press conference because there's such high-security, that they did not know what to do. that left him standing right in front of wayne lapierre for quite a long time rita >> you can only see lapierre's head because he was holding up a sign. let's go to the clip of you as they took him out of the room, this is what happened next he attempted to continue. >> sit down. >> the nra has blood on its hands. the nra has blood on its hands. shame on the nra.

>> the nra will the-- >> explain what happened as you're holding up a sign that said "the nra has blood on its hands." >> i got up with that sign right in front and had a chance a little longer than the club to be talking in there while they ripped it out of my hands and took me out. the most exciting thing i think about getting to speak in that press conference was how much energy it gave to people around the country and around the world when you heard responses from people saying, "thank you for standing at pre we were so disgusted only heard wayne lot here talking about the solution to these massacres to be more guns, to hear some voices of sanity rising up from that press conference." i think it made people feel that there was some hope. i think there is. grassroots movements are ready to be mobilized. i was quite disappointed in the

president. >> let's turn from your direct actions targeting violence here at home to targeting it abroad. it goes to president obama's pick for the new director of central intelligence, john brennan. you actually tried to interrupt a speech that he gave. when was this? >> that was back in april. >> this was john brennan speaking about drone warfare. this was medea benjamin's of codepink interruption how many people are you willing to sacrifice? why are you lying to the american people and not saying how many innocents have been killed? >> thank you for expressing your views. there will be time for questions and answers after the presentation. >> in pakistan, who was killed because he wanted to document the drone strike. i speak out on behalf of awlaki,

16-year-old born in denver, killed in yemen just because his father is some and we don't like. i speak out on behalf of the constitution, on behalf of the rule of law. i love the rule of law and i love my country. you are making us less safe by killing so many innocent people. >> that was medea benjamin been taken out by security. if you heard her voice straining, she was being held by security as her body did not go limp, but went rigid. she had her feet extended so they could not pull her out of the room going on either side of the door. medea benjamin does not do just direct action at these events, she also takes time to research and write and has written a book called "drone warfare." shias just returned from pakistan. talk about president obama's policies around drone warfare and targeted killings.

>> it is remarkable that while drones were used during the bush administration, they were used a total of not 50 times in the case of pakistan and immediately went obamacare in, he and his inner circle decided they would not pick up suspected enemy combatants on the battlefield and take them to guantanamo and they would not pick them up in places like pakistan and put them in guantanamo. instead, they would just kill them. so this has been a policy that has skyrocketed during the obama administration. there have been now over 300 drone strikes in pakistan alone. thousands of people killed the amazing thing about it is how, one, we of been like to by people like john brennan, now the nominee for the cia, saying it had been almost no civilian casualties. and the other is how incredibly counterproductive this policy is because it is the best

recruiting tool for al qaeda and the taliban. going to pakistan and feeling the visceral hatred toward the united states -- even here the foreign minister of pakistan when asked, why do three out of work consider the u.s. the enemy, she had a one word answer -- drones. this is calling millions of people, in fact, three out of four would be 100 billion pakistanis, to feel the u.s. is our enemy and hate us. i think the drone policy under the obama administration is making as less secure and is setting a precedent that says we can go anywhere we want, killing one we want on the basis of secret information. in the meantime, selling drones across the world so that 76 other nations now have them is very dangerous. >> this is dr. king's birthday, the federal holiday that acknowledges his birthday. we just have 30 seconds before we end with his speech for the most famously said, my country

is the greatest purveyor of violence on earth. 10 seconds as we wrap up this broadcast? >> medea benjamin is right. i say we hope the president is courageous. courageously pushing for an fighting for the ideas of king >> professor clarence lusane and author of "the black history of the white house." and medea benjamin, thank you for being with us. we wrap up with dr. martin luther king speaking a year to the day before he was assassinated. about his opposition to the war in vietnam. >> these are revolutionary times all over the globe, men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and

oppression and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. shirtless and barefoot, people of the land are rising up as never before. the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. we in the west must support these revolutions. it is a sad fact that because of conflict, complacency a morbid fear of communism and our promise to adjust to injustice, the western nations that initiated so much of the revolutionary spirit of the modern world have now become the arch anti revolutionaries. this has driven many to feel that only marxism has a revolutionary spirit. therefore, communism is a judgment against our failure to make democracy real and follow through on the revolutions that

we initiated. our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and military ism. with this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores, and thereby, speak the day when every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. a genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. every nation must develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual

societies. this call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call from all embracing -- unconditional love for all mankind. this oft misunderstood, this off misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the niet zsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. when i speak a love, i'm not speaking to some weak response. i'm not speaking with that force which is just emotional bosh. and speaking of that force which all the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to

ultimate reality. this hindu muslim christian jewish buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of saint john -- let us love one another, for lov fis god. and everyone that love with -- loveth is born of god and noeth god. let us hope this spirit will become harder of the day. we can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. the oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever rising tides of hate. and history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.

as arnold toynbee says -- love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. therefore, the first to open our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word. we're now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. we're confronted with the fierce urgency of now. in this unfolding conundrum of life and history, that is such a thing as being too late. procrastination is still the thief of time. life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and rejected with a lost opportunity. the tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood, it ebbs. we may cry out desperately for

time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. over the bleached funds and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "too late." there is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. omar skycam is right -- the move your finger writes, and having writ moves on. we still have a choice today. nonviolent coexistence, violent coalition. we must move past indecision to action. we must find new ways to speak for peace in vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors that if we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark and shameful

corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. now let us begin. now let us that hate -- rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, the beautiful, struggle for a new world. this is the calling of the sons of god, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. shall we say the odds are too great? shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? will our message be that the forces of american life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? or will there be another message -- of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? the choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we

must choose in this crucial moment of human history. as that noble bard of yesterday, james russell lowell, eloquently stated -- once every man and nation comes a moment to decide, in the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side some great cause, god's new messiah offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light. though the cause of evil prosper, yet 'tis truth alone is strong though her portions be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown standeth god within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

and if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. if we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. if we will make a right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over america and all of the world, when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. >> dr. martin luther king jr. speaking april 4, 1967 at riverside church in new york and is beyond vietnam speech. a year to the day before he was assassinated. today is a federal holiday honoring his birth in the second inauguration of president barack obama. if you want a copy of today's five-hour special, go to democracynow.org. tomorrow we will be at the

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